The only Italian and one of the very few Westerners in San’a, Giuseppe Caprotti, originally from Besana Brianza and the exact same name as my great-great-grandfather Giuseppe, lived in Yemen for over 30 years. During his very long stay, he amassed an important and very rich collection of manuscripts, coins and antiquities of various kinds. Much of this rare collection became part of the collections of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan, making it one of the most valuable and one of the largest collections of its kind in Europe today. A few days ago [4 March 2025], the project “Arabic Manuscripts in the Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana: the digital collection” was presented, which aims to digitise, with the use of advanced artificial intelligence tools, all the Arabic manuscripts preserved in the Library, including, of course, the third of the three main fonds , the Nuovo Fondo, the one from the Caprotti family collection (“Ambrosiana, i manoscritti arabi digitalializzati”, 7 March 2025).

Giuseppe Caprotti, as mentioned at the beginning, had close contacts with another Giuseppe Caprotti, my great-great-grandfather, for whom he procured antique artefacts, a small collection known in the family as the ‘Caprotti family museum’, later sold. Giuseppe was not only interested in antiquities, but also in the highly prizedMokha coffee [named after the Yemeni city], which he imported in large quantities.

Sources:

Albiate (MB), Villa San Valerio, Villa San Valerio Archives, Giuseppe Caprotti family, Giuseppe Caprotti explorer.

Bibliographic references:

  1. CARAZZI, Giuseppe Caprotti, entry in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani – vol. 19 (1976), from https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/giuseppe-caprotti_(Dizionario-Biografico)/
  2. F. FUMAGALLI, “Giuseppe Caprotti (Pobiga Di Besana Brianza, 1862-Magenta 1919): Quelques notes biographiques’, in ‘Chroniques du Manuscrit au Yémen’, no. 9 (28)/Juillet 2019, ‘Giuseppe Caprotti de Besana Brianza (29 mars 1862-15 mai 1919). In memoriam”, pp. 36 – 40.
  3. CAPROTTI, “Le Ossa dei Caprotti. Una storia italiana’, Milan, 2024/3.

(f.p.) Ambrosiana, the Arabic manuscripts digitised, in Terra Santa, 7 March 2025.

BIBLIOTECA AMBROSIANA, “Arabic manuscripts in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana. The digital collection“, presentation of the Project, 4 March 2025.

Giuseppe Caprotti l'esploratore
Biglietto di auguri di Giuseppe Caprotti esploratore in arabo ed italiano 1900
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