Profile

Son of Peppino and Marianne Maire, thanks to his brother Guido he became a partner in Supermarkets Italiani, which opened the first supermarket in Italy. He first married Giorgina Venosta, with whom he had two children, Giuseppe and Violetta, and later Giuliana Albera, with whom he had Marina Sylvia.

Read 39 articles about Bernardo Caprotti

History of Esselunga History of the Caprotti and Venosta families Local History

Is the Caprotti factory due to be demolished?

Dear Dr Caprotti, I was saddened to hear of the forthcoming demolition of the factory in Ponte, which your father set out to build and to which he devoted a significant part of his life. It is undoubtedly a place that, for many people, has meant much more than simply a ‘place of work’: it has been a professional and social hub, a place to meet and forge new bonds. It has certainly been a source of hope for a better future, both for oneself and for one’s family…

History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

The Caprotti family’s friends: Andrea Solbiati, the sportsman

Andrea Solbiati (1928–2014), heir to another Lombard textile dynasty, a great tennis player and a passionate football fan with a deep-rooted loyalty to AC Milan, was the man who introduced me to my childhood idols, starting with Gianni Rivera. In the late 1980s, together with Federico Castelbarco Albani, he founded the ‘Clubino’ football team, for which I played for more than 10 years. I still have the football books Andrea gave me, and they are particularly dear to me, just as he was – and still is.

History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

My mother’s friends, Giorgina Venosta: Lina Sotis and Silvia Tofanelli

The first photograph comes from a series taken at Lina's second bachelorette party, in November 1993, on the eve of her marriage to Marco Romano, an event that Sotis herself also recalled with nostalgia in an interview for 'il Giornale' in April 2015: 'Yes, it was nice. Readings, music, beautiful. There was Natalia Aspesi, Inge Feltrinelli, Rosellina Archinto, Stella Pende, Gioia Marchi Falck , Mita De Benedetti, Antonella Camerana, Giorgina Venosta...'.

History of Esselunga History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

Guido Caprotti, the less famous brother

Guido Caprotti was one of the pioneers of large-scale distribution in Italy, a partner from the beginning of 'Supermarkets italiani' (later Esselunga), he later founded with Marco Brunelli 'La Romana Supermarkets' (later GS). Later he and his brothers bought the majority of Esselunga from the Americans. Despite this role, his name has remained at the margins of the public narrative. Unjustly so. Because to his and Brunelli's intuition we owe an important part of the start of modern distribution in Italy. It is no coincidence that back in 1959, La Stampa described him as 'a giant of entrepreneurship'.

Collaborations / Projects Food and Retail History History of Esselunga History of the Caprotti and Venosta families People, Environment & Culture Press & Events

Giuseppe Caprotti: ‘From trolleys to history, the luck of living more lives’

What will we read about in your new book? ‘I tell another side of the family through two extraordinary explorers: my eponymous ancestor Giuseppe Caprotti, who lived thirty years in Yemen, and my great uncle Gianni Albertini, a skier and mountaineer who explored the North Pole’.

History of Esselunga History of the Caprotti and Venosta families Local History

Peppino Caprotti – Final tragedy, honours to the Mayor

In June 1952, grandfather Peppino died in a car accident while returning from a deer hunt in Austria. Peppino had been elected mayor of Albiate only a year earlier. A few days later, the whole town attended the mayor's funeral. Peppino was also remembered in the first of the annual pamphlets that the municipal administration published at the end of each of its terms. The story of Peppino and his family has always intersected with that of his village, and in "Le Ossa dei Caprotti" I have narrated it.

History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

The character of Grandpa Peppino

Caprotti's men were sanguine, quarrelsome characters, easily ignited, competitive and sometimes ruthless. But they could also be cheerful, enthusiastic, vital, and feel a deep affection for the family, although this same powerful vitalism and strong competitiveness often led to misunderstandings and jealousies that were difficult if not impossible to reconcile. Grandpa Peppino's story is not very different from the general picture.

History of the Caprotti and Venosta families Local History

Caprotti’s ‘extended family’ between Albiate and Milan

There is a long list of closely trusted people with whom the families of yesteryear surrounded themselves and filled their homes, people who called their employers by name ('scior Bernardo', 'sciora Bettina', 'scior Peppin'), knew more about their lives sometimes than themselves, and were always there at every important family event, with pride and sometimes even emotion.

History of the Caprotti and Venosta families Local History

Around the Caprottis: the beloved villa in Albiate

Since the end of the 19th century, when the Caprotti family bought the villa, much of the family history passed through that house, and continues to do so. Many photographs recount it, many memories that have remained in the letters and in the souls of those who lived them, and bring back serene photos among the trees, the games in the courtyard, the animals that once were, even the old carriages that the family used for a long time, even after the advent of cars, and which still exist.

History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

Bursinel, the castle on Caprotti’s lake

The castle of Bursinel, in the canton of Vaud, was bought after the war by grandfather Peppino, and together with Villa Nadina, in Forte dei Marmi, it is one of the places of the heart. At Bursinel we all get together, uncles cousins brothers grandmothers and great-grandmothers, and we children play for hours on the castle's large lawn. My father gave it to my sister who is selling it, much to my regret.

Food and Retail History History of Esselunga History of the Caprotti and Venosta families Presentations

Le Ossa dei Caprotti’ presentation – Soroptimist, 29 October 2025

I really stopped. During that long difficult period we talked about earlier, I stopped completely. It was a time of silence, of isolation. But then, with the end of the court case and Covid, I chose to look forward. I decided to see the Covid crisis as an opportunity to help. From there my personal rebirth and my work in the Guido Venosta Foundation was born

History of Esselunga History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

Giorgina Venosta and Bernardo Caprotti’s friends: Giulia Maria Crespi, Indro Montanelli, Marisa Spaini Rivolta

If Mario and Vittorio Crespi were partners of my father Bernardo and Uncle Guido in the foundation of Esselunga, their niece Giulia Maria, for some fundamental years in the management of 'Corriere della Sera' and later founder of FAI-Fondo Ambiente Italiano and agricultural entrepreneur, was a friend of Bernardo's ex-wife, my mother Giorgina...

Food and Retail History History of Esselunga History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

The name ‘Esselunga’, the story of a small myth

Uncle Claudio [Caprotti], my father's last brother, told me that Esselunga's name was born at the time of the 'Mille lire lunghe' (One Thousand Long Lira) promotional campaign (1969 - 1971), curated by Alberto Gandin, one of the leading Italian advertisers of the time. The slogan was 'come and spend 1,000 long Lira at the supermarket with the long esse'. From then on, customers began to call the supermarkets 'Esselunga', which was to become the name of the operating company while the holding company continued to be called Supermarkets Italiani."

History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

Friends of Bernardo Caprotti and Giorgina Venosta: architect Vico Magistretti and publisher Rosellina Archinto

My father Bernardo wanted Vico Magistretti to design the Esselunga superstore in Pantigliate, which opened in 2001, where two years later the first of the 'Bar Atlantique' (now 'Bar Atlantic') opened, also designed by Magistretti, who renovated the food outlets that I had strongly desired since the first superstores. The great architect worked for my father, but he was also a close friend of my mother GiorginaOf mutual friends Rosellina Archinto, who animated Milan's cultural life for decades

History of Esselunga History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

Bernardo Caprotti’s and Giorgina Venosta’s friends: architect Mario Botta

Born in Mendrisio in 1943, he designed the shopping centre in Via Canova, Florence, for Esselunga. Mario Botta was at home in Monate, in the villa of my mother Giorgina and her husband Aldo Bassetti. When my grandmother Luisa Quintavalle died in 2009, she wrote an affectionate condolence card to my mother, with a sketch on the cover for the new Alpine church in Mogno, Switzerland, which was swept away by an avalanche in 1986.

History of the Caprotti and Venosta families Press & Events

Two mismatches in the Caprotti story: Januaria Piromallo, Marchioness of the Dukes etc., and Maria Cristina Busi Ferruzzi, ‘Princess of Coca-Cola

The story of Maria Busi Ferruzzi is reported in the book ‘Le Ossa dei Caprotti’ because it exemplifies how a supplier can become a servant. On Januaria Piromallo, Marchioness Capece Piscinelli di Montebello of the Dukes of Capracotta, on the other hand, I have drawn a pious veil

History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

The Caprotti family: Bernardo Caprotti and Giorgina’s wedding, November 1958. Grandmother Luisa with her mother

My mother is a little younger than Guido Caprotti, the second of the three brothers, and with her mother and brother she spends the summer in Forte dei Marmi, where the Caprotti family also spends their holidays. At Forte Giorgina meets Bernardo, who is twice her age but is intelligent, charming, with a wry and ready wit. She just wants to run away from home, and the idea of joining a family as apparently united as Bernardo's attracts her; he has decided that the time has come to settle down, and a young bride from Milan's upper industrial bourgeoisie suits him perfectly.

History of Esselunga History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

The Caprotti family and the supermarket: Ferdinando Schiavoni, Mario Crespi and Bernardo Caprotti at the inauguration of the first shop in Milan, Viale Regina Giovanna, 1957

At the inauguration of Milan's and Italy's first supermarket, the Viale Regina Giovanna shop, one photograph among many shows two of the key figures who made it possible: Ferdinando Schiavoni, one of the not many English-speaking people in Italy, a link between IBEC managers and the Caprotti family, an early manager of what would later become Esselunga, and Mario Crespi, who with his brother Vittorio, Marco Brunelli and brothers Bernardo and Guido Caprotti was one of the Americans' main minority shareholders in what was the start of a great adventure.

History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

The Caprotti family: my father Bernardo Caprotti, 1925 – 2016

The picture from almost a hundred years ago shows a pale, curly-haired child, confident and smiling. The now receding adult at ease on the sofa in the second picture was already my father. From him I received a great deal in every sense, from the well-being in which I grew up to the possibility, thanks to his insistence, of doing a job that became a passion. Unfortunately to his dark side I also owe the end of that job and the years that were taken away from me.

History of Esselunga History of the Caprotti and Venosta families Local History

Is the Caprotti factory due to be demolished?

Dear Dr Caprotti, I was saddened to hear of the forthcoming demolition of the factory in Ponte, which your father set out to build and to which he devoted a significant part of his life. It is undoubtedly a place that, for many people, has meant much more than simply a ‘place of work’: it has been a professional and social hub, a place to meet and forge new bonds. It has certainly been a source of hope for a better future, both for oneself and for one’s family…

History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

The Caprotti family’s friends: Andrea Solbiati, the sportsman

Andrea Solbiati (1928–2014), heir to another Lombard textile dynasty, a great tennis player and a passionate football fan with a deep-rooted loyalty to AC Milan, was the man who introduced me to my childhood idols, starting with Gianni Rivera. In the late 1980s, together with Federico Castelbarco Albani, he founded the ‘Clubino’ football team, for which I played for more than 10 years. I still have the football books Andrea gave me, and they are particularly dear to me, just as he was – and still is.

History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

My mother’s friends, Giorgina Venosta: Lina Sotis and Silvia Tofanelli

The first photograph comes from a series taken at Lina's second bachelorette party, in November 1993, on the eve of her marriage to Marco Romano, an event that Sotis herself also recalled with nostalgia in an interview for 'il Giornale' in April 2015: 'Yes, it was nice. Readings, music, beautiful. There was Natalia Aspesi, Inge Feltrinelli, Rosellina Archinto, Stella Pende, Gioia Marchi Falck , Mita De Benedetti, Antonella Camerana, Giorgina Venosta...'.

History of Esselunga History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

Guido Caprotti, the less famous brother

Guido Caprotti was one of the pioneers of large-scale distribution in Italy, a partner from the beginning of 'Supermarkets italiani' (later Esselunga), he later founded with Marco Brunelli 'La Romana Supermarkets' (later GS). Later he and his brothers bought the majority of Esselunga from the Americans. Despite this role, his name has remained at the margins of the public narrative. Unjustly so. Because to his and Brunelli's intuition we owe an important part of the start of modern distribution in Italy. It is no coincidence that back in 1959, La Stampa described him as 'a giant of entrepreneurship'.

Collaborations / Projects Food and Retail History History of Esselunga History of the Caprotti and Venosta families People, Environment & Culture Press & Events

Giuseppe Caprotti: ‘From trolleys to history, the luck of living more lives’

What will we read about in your new book? ‘I tell another side of the family through two extraordinary explorers: my eponymous ancestor Giuseppe Caprotti, who lived thirty years in Yemen, and my great uncle Gianni Albertini, a skier and mountaineer who explored the North Pole’.

History of Esselunga History of the Caprotti and Venosta families Local History

Peppino Caprotti – Final tragedy, honours to the Mayor

In June 1952, grandfather Peppino died in a car accident while returning from a deer hunt in Austria. Peppino had been elected mayor of Albiate only a year earlier. A few days later, the whole town attended the mayor's funeral. Peppino was also remembered in the first of the annual pamphlets that the municipal administration published at the end of each of its terms. The story of Peppino and his family has always intersected with that of his village, and in "Le Ossa dei Caprotti" I have narrated it.

History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

The character of Grandpa Peppino

Caprotti's men were sanguine, quarrelsome characters, easily ignited, competitive and sometimes ruthless. But they could also be cheerful, enthusiastic, vital, and feel a deep affection for the family, although this same powerful vitalism and strong competitiveness often led to misunderstandings and jealousies that were difficult if not impossible to reconcile. Grandpa Peppino's story is not very different from the general picture.

History of the Caprotti and Venosta families Local History

Caprotti’s ‘extended family’ between Albiate and Milan

There is a long list of closely trusted people with whom the families of yesteryear surrounded themselves and filled their homes, people who called their employers by name ('scior Bernardo', 'sciora Bettina', 'scior Peppin'), knew more about their lives sometimes than themselves, and were always there at every important family event, with pride and sometimes even emotion.

History of the Caprotti and Venosta families Local History

Around the Caprottis: the beloved villa in Albiate

Since the end of the 19th century, when the Caprotti family bought the villa, much of the family history passed through that house, and continues to do so. Many photographs recount it, many memories that have remained in the letters and in the souls of those who lived them, and bring back serene photos among the trees, the games in the courtyard, the animals that once were, even the old carriages that the family used for a long time, even after the advent of cars, and which still exist.

History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

Bursinel, the castle on Caprotti’s lake

The castle of Bursinel, in the canton of Vaud, was bought after the war by grandfather Peppino, and together with Villa Nadina, in Forte dei Marmi, it is one of the places of the heart. At Bursinel we all get together, uncles cousins brothers grandmothers and great-grandmothers, and we children play for hours on the castle's large lawn. My father gave it to my sister who is selling it, much to my regret.

Food and Retail History History of Esselunga History of the Caprotti and Venosta families Presentations

Le Ossa dei Caprotti’ presentation – Soroptimist, 29 October 2025

I really stopped. During that long difficult period we talked about earlier, I stopped completely. It was a time of silence, of isolation. But then, with the end of the court case and Covid, I chose to look forward. I decided to see the Covid crisis as an opportunity to help. From there my personal rebirth and my work in the Guido Venosta Foundation was born

History of Esselunga History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

Giorgina Venosta and Bernardo Caprotti’s friends: Giulia Maria Crespi, Indro Montanelli, Marisa Spaini Rivolta

If Mario and Vittorio Crespi were partners of my father Bernardo and Uncle Guido in the foundation of Esselunga, their niece Giulia Maria, for some fundamental years in the management of 'Corriere della Sera' and later founder of FAI-Fondo Ambiente Italiano and agricultural entrepreneur, was a friend of Bernardo's ex-wife, my mother Giorgina...

Food and Retail History History of Esselunga History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

The name ‘Esselunga’, the story of a small myth

Uncle Claudio [Caprotti], my father's last brother, told me that Esselunga's name was born at the time of the 'Mille lire lunghe' (One Thousand Long Lira) promotional campaign (1969 - 1971), curated by Alberto Gandin, one of the leading Italian advertisers of the time. The slogan was 'come and spend 1,000 long Lira at the supermarket with the long esse'. From then on, customers began to call the supermarkets 'Esselunga', which was to become the name of the operating company while the holding company continued to be called Supermarkets Italiani."

History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

Friends of Bernardo Caprotti and Giorgina Venosta: architect Vico Magistretti and publisher Rosellina Archinto

My father Bernardo wanted Vico Magistretti to design the Esselunga superstore in Pantigliate, which opened in 2001, where two years later the first of the 'Bar Atlantique' (now 'Bar Atlantic') opened, also designed by Magistretti, who renovated the food outlets that I had strongly desired since the first superstores. The great architect worked for my father, but he was also a close friend of my mother GiorginaOf mutual friends Rosellina Archinto, who animated Milan's cultural life for decades

History of Esselunga History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

Bernardo Caprotti’s and Giorgina Venosta’s friends: architect Mario Botta

Born in Mendrisio in 1943, he designed the shopping centre in Via Canova, Florence, for Esselunga. Mario Botta was at home in Monate, in the villa of my mother Giorgina and her husband Aldo Bassetti. When my grandmother Luisa Quintavalle died in 2009, she wrote an affectionate condolence card to my mother, with a sketch on the cover for the new Alpine church in Mogno, Switzerland, which was swept away by an avalanche in 1986.

History of the Caprotti and Venosta families Press & Events

Two mismatches in the Caprotti story: Januaria Piromallo, Marchioness of the Dukes etc., and Maria Cristina Busi Ferruzzi, ‘Princess of Coca-Cola

The story of Maria Busi Ferruzzi is reported in the book ‘Le Ossa dei Caprotti’ because it exemplifies how a supplier can become a servant. On Januaria Piromallo, Marchioness Capece Piscinelli di Montebello of the Dukes of Capracotta, on the other hand, I have drawn a pious veil

History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

The Caprotti family: Bernardo Caprotti and Giorgina’s wedding, November 1958. Grandmother Luisa with her mother

My mother is a little younger than Guido Caprotti, the second of the three brothers, and with her mother and brother she spends the summer in Forte dei Marmi, where the Caprotti family also spends their holidays. At Forte Giorgina meets Bernardo, who is twice her age but is intelligent, charming, with a wry and ready wit. She just wants to run away from home, and the idea of joining a family as apparently united as Bernardo's attracts her; he has decided that the time has come to settle down, and a young bride from Milan's upper industrial bourgeoisie suits him perfectly.

History of Esselunga History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

The Caprotti family and the supermarket: Ferdinando Schiavoni, Mario Crespi and Bernardo Caprotti at the inauguration of the first shop in Milan, Viale Regina Giovanna, 1957

At the inauguration of Milan's and Italy's first supermarket, the Viale Regina Giovanna shop, one photograph among many shows two of the key figures who made it possible: Ferdinando Schiavoni, one of the not many English-speaking people in Italy, a link between IBEC managers and the Caprotti family, an early manager of what would later become Esselunga, and Mario Crespi, who with his brother Vittorio, Marco Brunelli and brothers Bernardo and Guido Caprotti was one of the Americans' main minority shareholders in what was the start of a great adventure.

History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

The Caprotti family: my father Bernardo Caprotti, 1925 – 2016

The picture from almost a hundred years ago shows a pale, curly-haired child, confident and smiling. The now receding adult at ease on the sofa in the second picture was already my father. From him I received a great deal in every sense, from the well-being in which I grew up to the possibility, thanks to his insistence, of doing a job that became a passion. Unfortunately to his dark side I also owe the end of that job and the years that were taken away from me.

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