The Caprotti family female: my grandmother Marianne Maire, 1920s

Marianne Maire, a Frenchwoman from Épinal, was Grandpa Peppino's wife, whom he met while studying in France. She was not an easy character, but I remember most of all the sweetness with which she treated us grandchildren. When, in the 1960s, her three sons decided to take over their share of Supermarket (the future Esselunga) from the Americans of IBEC, she came to their rescue with 300 million lire at the time and the relinquishment of most of her rights over Manifattura Caprotti and the family assets she had inherited from her late husband, helping them in no small measure to achieve their goal.

The Caprotti family: Benedetta and Giuseppe Caprotti’s First Communion, May 1970

As happens with every event of this kind, the family photo at the end of the ceremony was a must, and the lens included two 'extended' family groups (Bernardo Caprotti, Venosta, Austoni, Rivolta), with many of the protagonists of my life, from my grandmother Marianne to my aunt Lu with her sisters, from my mother on the far left of the photo to Uncle Guido on the far right, all realised by my father Bernardo's lens.