The Caprotti family: Bernardo Caprotti and Giorgina’s wedding, November 1958, Uncle Claudio and Grandmother Marianne

"Grandma has a weakness: she is madly in love with her third son, my uncle Claudio. Some friends told me that Claudio was allowed to have breakfast and lunch in bed when he was in Albiate. Bernardo suffered from this unique relationship and I am convinced that jealousy between the two brothers was one of the causes of the quarrels that shook our family.

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.

The Caprotti family’s ancestors: my maternal great-grandmother Adele Portaluppi Quintavalle, grandmother Luisa’s mother, 1942

Adele was the sister of Piero Portaluppi, a well-known Milanese architect, and belonged to the Milanese upper middle class. In the photo she is in the centre between her daughter Luisa Quintavalle, holding her own daughter Giorgina Venosta, and a third woman identifiable as Luisa Gadda Portaluppi, Adele and Piero's mother, Milan, April 1942.

The Caprotti family’s ancestors: maternal grandmother Luisa Quintavalle at Sestriere, January 1939

I had a special relationship with my grandmother Luisa. We used to meet at her place and the only gift I remember from her was Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. She had given it to me to fill in the gaps at the Swiss school I attended but, above all, she had given me something much more precious: the afternoons we had spent together, during which she had committed herself to explaining such a difficult text to me.

My grandmother Luisa Quintavalle from a period newspaper clipping, ‘Cime Moda’, Cervinia, winter 1936

Grandmother Luisa was not only an excellent sportswoman, but also a protagonist of Milanese fashion. Here she is portrayed in a mountain outfit, of which the archive preserves proof photos. She was a person of undoubted culture, a translator from French and English for the most important Italian publishing houses, as well as an author herself.

The Caprotti family’s ancestors: the ball of my maternal great-grandfather Giuseppe Venosta

My grandfather Guido Venosta worked for a long time at Pirelli, where his father Giuseppe was General Manager and inventor of the first modern football, the 'Corazza Pirelli' with a rubber core that would replace the leather balls used until then. The advertisements for the new ball, which was light and durable, were also designed by the famous Marcello Dudovich, who is considered one of the founders of 20th century advertising posters and one of the greatest Italian designers and poster artists. Poster by M. Dudovich, Corazza Pirelli, Museo Nazionale Collezione Salce, Direzione regionale Musei Veneto, published by concession of the Ministry of Culture.

The Caprotti family’s ancestors: maternal great-grandparents, Giuseppe Venosta and Argia Neri Venosta, grandfather Guido’s parents

Giuseppe Venosta (1880 - 1939) was an engineer who worked all his life at Pirelli until his death from cancer, a disease that was incurable at the time, of which his wife Argia was also a victim, some ten years after him. His son Guido, my grandfather, many years later became very involved in the fight against the disease that had killed his father and, a decade later, his mother as well.