Profile

An engineer and passionate mountain sportsman, he led the Magneti Marelli company for over three decades together with his brother Bruno Antonio. He married Adele Portaluppi and had three children: Ferruccio, and the twin daughters Ida — who married the explorer Gianni Albertini — and Luisa, mother of Giorgina Venosta.

Read 6 articles about Umberto Quintavalle

History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

Elba Island, Tenuta delle Ripalte, the lost paradise of childhood

Shortly before the Second World War, Umberto Quintavalle, vice-president of Magneti Marelli and my maternal great-grandfather, bought the marvellous Ripalte estate on the island of Elba and turned it into a place of delight, especially for hunting, but also for relatives and friends to stay. When great-grandfather Umberto died in 1959, the property passed to one of his daughters, my grandmother Luisa Quintavalle, who was married in her second marriage to Marquis Nicolò Theodoli. With her, summer periods at Ripalte are one of the most beautiful childhood memories.

History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

The joy of snow, always: for Milan-Cortina 2026

Since the 1920s at least, everyone in the family has been skiing, great-grandparents, fathers and grandchildren, boys and girls: from great-grandfather Umberto Quintavalle, who ended his life in a crevasse under the eyes of his grandmother Adele, to grandmother Luisa and her children, my mother Giorgina and uncle Beppo, from great-grandfather Giuseppe Venosta, President of the Sport Club Pirelli to grandfather Guido, from his brother Gigi Venosta, who in addition to skiing was also a national hockey player, to Gianni Albertini, husband of aunt Ida Quintavalle, who was also a masterful climber and Arctic explorer. And up to us, children of that passion that we still continue.

History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

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.

History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

Elba Island, Tenuta delle Ripalte, the lost paradise of childhood

Shortly before the Second World War, Umberto Quintavalle, vice-president of Magneti Marelli and my maternal great-grandfather, bought the marvellous Ripalte estate on the island of Elba and turned it into a place of delight, especially for hunting, but also for relatives and friends to stay. When great-grandfather Umberto died in 1959, the property passed to one of his daughters, my grandmother Luisa Quintavalle, who was married in her second marriage to Marquis Nicolò Theodoli. With her, summer periods at Ripalte are one of the most beautiful childhood memories.

History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

The joy of snow, always: for Milan-Cortina 2026

Since the 1920s at least, everyone in the family has been skiing, great-grandparents, fathers and grandchildren, boys and girls: from great-grandfather Umberto Quintavalle, who ended his life in a crevasse under the eyes of his grandmother Adele, to grandmother Luisa and her children, my mother Giorgina and uncle Beppo, from great-grandfather Giuseppe Venosta, President of the Sport Club Pirelli to grandfather Guido, from his brother Gigi Venosta, who in addition to skiing was also a national hockey player, to Gianni Albertini, husband of aunt Ida Quintavalle, who was also a masterful climber and Arctic explorer. And up to us, children of that passion that we still continue.

History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

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.