Ticino is a canton of Switzerland primarily inhabited by an Italian population, and comprises most of the Italian-speaking area of Switzerland. Of all the ethnically Italian regions located outside of Italy, Ticino is unique because it is the only Italian region situated within a majority non-Italian country whose language, culture and identity is still Italian. This is contrast to regions such as Istria or Grigioni, whose Italian populations have been greatly diminished over the last couple centuries.
Many notable Italians came from Ticino, especially architects. Ticino has a very strong architectural tradition and has produced more architects per capita than any other region in the world, and in a record span of time (most of them lived between the 15th and 19th centuries), and while living in oppressive conditions as subjects of the Swiss. Ticino's architects includes men who revolutionized the history of architecture, and men who worked all over Europe and achieved international fame.
Below are some of the most important Italians from Ticino:
• Francesco Borromini - Architect; one of the founders of baroque architecture
• Luigi Canonica - Architect and urban planner; official architect of the Cisalpine Republic
• Carlo Maderno - Architect; one of the founders of baroque architecture; designed the facade of St. Peter's Basilica
• Domenico Gilardi - Architect; helped rebuild Moscow after its destruction by Napoleon
• Giovanni Battista di Quadro - Architect; helped build and rebuild Poznan in Poland
• Giovanni Battista Trevano - Architect; introduced the baroque style to Poland
• Francesco Boffo - Architect; helped build Odessa in Ukraine
• Ippolit Monighetti - Architect; worked in Russia
• Cosimo Morelli - Architect; worked in the Papal States
• Pietro Nobile - Architect; leading architect of the Habsburg court
• Francesco Righetti - Architect; worked in Argentina
• Domenico Rossi - Architect; worked in Venice
• Luigi Rusca - Architect; worked in Russia and Ukraine
• Gaetano Matteo Pisoni - Architect; worked in Belgium and Switzerland
• Giovanni Antonio Viscardi - Architect; worked in Bavaria
• Pietro Morettini - Architect and military engineer; worked in Germany, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands
• Bernardacci Brothers - Architects; worked in Russia
• Fossati Brothers - Architects; renovated Hagia Sophia
• Lafranchini Brothers - Stuccoists; worked on the palladian houses of Ireland
• Giuseppe Artari - Stuccoist; worked in Germany and Great Britain
• Giovanni Pietro Magni - Stuccoist; worked on the Würzburg Cathedral
• Antonio Raggi - Sculptor and stuccoist
• Giovanni Antonio Pilacorte - Sculptor
• Grazioso Rusca - Sculptor
• Camillo Rusconi - Sculptor
• Vincenzo Vela - Sculptor
• Giovanni Battista Bagutti - Painter
• Carlo Bossoli - Painter
• Antonio Ciseri - Painter
• Francesco Antonio Giorgioli - Painter
• Giuseppe Antonio Orelli - Painter
• Vincenzo Angelo Orelli - Painter
• Giuseppe Antonio Petrini - Painter
• Francesco Innocenzo Torriani - Painter
• Giuseppe Antonio Maria Torricelli - Painter
• Giovan Giacomo Paleari Fratino - Military engineer
• Domenico Reina - Tenor
• Gian Battista Mantegazzi - Composer
• Maestro Martino da Como - Gastronomist and chef; the world's first celebrity chef
• Carlo Gatti - Entrepreneur; the first to make ice cream available to the general public
• Carlo Ponti - Photographer and optician; inventor of the alethoscope and megalethoscope
• Nicolò Rusca - Priest and martyr; tortured and murdered by Protestants
• Romano Amerio - Theologian and critic against the Second Vatican Council
• Teresina Bontempi - Journalist and irredentist
• Francesco Chiesa - Poet and teacher; co-founded the Ticinese branch of the Dante Alighieri Society
• Leonardo Conti - Doctor, SS-Obergruppenfuhrer and Reich Health Leader of National Socialist Germany
There have also been several architectural and artisan families from Ticino:
• Adamini Family - Family of architects who worked in St. Petersburg, Russia. The most prominent was Domenico Adamini (1792-1860). Other members were Leone (1727/1728-1764), Agostino (1752-1792), Tommaso (1763/1764-1828), Leone (1789-1854), Antonio (1792-1846) and Tommaso Adamini (1823-1850), all of whom worked in Russia; some of them were nominated master builders of the Imperial Court. Giuseppe Antonio Adamini (1756) was an architect for the Royal Court in Lisbon, Portugal and in India. Later members of the family were Bernardo (1834-1900), Clemente (1832-1907), Tommaso (1829-1887) and Emilio Adamini (1854-1914), all of whom were hydraulic and railway engineers who specialized in the construction of railroads.
• Albertolli Family - Family of architects, stuccoists and painters from Bedano who worked in Italy in the 18th and 19th centuries. Members of the family included Francesco Saverio Albertolli (1701-1761), architect; Michele Albertolli (1732-1761), architect; Grato Albertolli (1740-1812), stuccoist; Giocondo Albertolli (1743-1839), architect, painter, sculptor, stuccoist and knight of the Iron Crown; Gian Giacomo Albertolli (1761-1805), professor of civil architecture; Raffaele Albertolli (1770-1812), painter, engraver and stuccoist; Ferdinando Albertolli (1780-1844), architect and professor of design; and Fedele Albertolli (1789-1832), painter. They were possibly related to the 16th century architect Giovanni Albertalli of Grigioni.
• Agustoni Family - Family of architects who worked in Genoa, Germany, Czechia and the Papal States. The most important was Lazaro Agustoni (1570-1642), who remodeled Würzburg Cathedral and built many churches in Germany and Prague with his brother Francesco. His nephew Giacomo Agustoni (1668-1735) built baroque structures in Bohemia. His other nephew Domenico Agustoni (1606-1681) was a foreman in Prague. Battista Agustoni (1565-1616) and Agostino Agustoni (1570-1616) were master builders in Genoa. Antonio Agustoni (1669-1729) worked as a stuccoist in Copenhagen. Pietro Agustoni (1741-1815) worked in the Papal States. One branch of the family became known as the Cantone or Cantoni family, represented by the architects Antonio Cantone, Bernardino Cantone (1505-1576/1580) and Pietro or Pier Francesco Cantone (1585-1657). Other members included Francesco Maria Cantoni (1685-1712), Pietro Cantoni (1710-1785), Gaetano Cantoni (1745-1827) and Simone Cantoni (1739-1818), who was one of the major neoclassical architects in Italy.
• Aostalli Family - Family of architects who worked in Prague. The most important members of the family were Giovanni Maria Aostalli (1500-1567), Giovanni Battista Aostalli (1510-1575) and Ulrico Aostalli de Sala (1525-1597).
• Bagnato Family - Family of master builders who worked in Switzerland and Germany. The most important members of the family were Paolo Bagnato (1660-1704), Giovanni Gaspare Bagnato (1696-1757) and Francesco Antonio Bagnato (1731-1810).
• Brenni Family - Family of stuccoists and architects from Salorino who helped introduce Late Baroque style to Germany. There were over a dozen members of the family who worked around Europe. The most famous were Carlo Enrico Brenno (1688-1745), who worked in Germany and Denmark, and Vincenzo Brenna (1747-1820), who was the leading court architect of Tsarist Russia.
• Bussi Family - Family of painters and stuccoists from Bissone who worked in Austria, Bavaria and Czechia. The most notable members were Carlo Antonio Bussi (1658-1690), a painter who worked in Passau Cathedral and decorated many churches in Austria, and Santino Bussi (1664-1736), a stuccoist who worked in many castles in Austria and Czechia.
• Carabelli Family - Family of artisans from Castel San Pietro who worked in Portugal, Italy and Ticino. Members of the family included Giovanni Albino Carabelli (1690-1766), sculptor and engraver of the Royal Court of Portugal; Giuseppe Carabelli (1722-1803), woodcarver; Francesco Carabelli (1737-1798), sculptor who worked in Milan; Donato Carabelli (1760-1839), sculptor and stuccoist who worked in the Milan Cathedral; Casimiro Carabelli (1774-1840), stuccoist.
• Carlone Family - The Carlone or Carloni was a prolific artisan family composed of architects, master builders, stuccoists and painters who worked in Central Europe and Italy in the Baroque and Rococo periods. The family was divided into two main branches: the Carlone di Scaria in Lombardy and the Carlone di Rovio in modern Ticino. Most of them were itinerant artists. Members of the Ticino branch included: Antonio Carlone (1470-1520), architect and sculptor; Michele Carlone (1468-1519), architect and sculptor; Giovanni Carloni (1510-1576), sculptor; Taddeo Carlone (1543-1615), architect and sculptor; Giovanni Bernado Carlone (1584-1631), painter; Giovanni Battista Carlone (1603-1684), painter; Giovanni Andrea Carlone (1639-1697), painter; Giovanni Carlone (1636-1717), painter; Giovanni Battista Carlone (1580/90-1645), architect; Giuseppe Maria Carlone (1646-1695), architect and sculptor.
• Casella Family - Family of sculptors and stuccoists from Carona who worked in Italy. The most notable member was Daniele Casella (1557-1646), one of the most important sculptors of Genoa in the 16th and 17th centuries. Other members included Donato Casella (c. 1505-1560), Alvise Casella (1525-1590), Francesco Casella (1540-1602), Giovanni Battista Casella de Annibale (1623-1678), Giovanni Battista Casella de Monora (c. 1620-1679) and many others.
• Castello Family - The Castello or Castelli was a family of stuccoists and architects from Melide who worked in Germany and Austria. The most notable member was Matteo Castelli (1555-1632), official architect of the Royal Court of Poland who co-designed the Royal Castle in Warsaw..
• Colomba Family - Family of architects, painters and stuccoists from Arogno who worked in Austria, Germany, Italy, Poland, Hungary, Ticino and Prague. Members of the family included Andrea Colomba (1567-1627), stuccoist; Giovanni Antonio Colomba (1585-1650), stuccoist; Cristoforo Colomba (1625-1680), architect and stuccoist; Giovanni Battista Colomba (1638-1693), architect, painter and stuccoist; Luca Antonio Colomba (1674-1737), painter; Giovanni Battista Innocenzo Colomba (1717-1793), architect, painter and stage designer.
• Contin Family - Family of architects and sculptors who worked in Venice in the 16th and 17th centuries. The family produced four artisans who each worked in architecture and sculpture: Bernardino Contin (1530-1596) and his three sons Antonio Contin (1566-1600), Tommaso Contin (1570-1634) and Francesco Contin (1585-1654). Bernardino Contin was the son of Venetian architect Antonio da Ponte (1512-1597). Antonio Contin assisted his grandfather in the construction of the Rialto Bridge in Venice.
• Fontana Family - One of the most prolific and important architectural families from Ticino. The most notable members of the family were Domenico Fontana (1543-1607), who completed the dome of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, and his nephew Carlo Fontana (1638-1714), who introduced classicism to Baroque architecture. Other members included Giovanni Fontana (1540-1614), architect, engineer and Dominican friar; Giulio Cesare Fontana (1580-1627), architect and engineer; Baldassarre Fontana (1661-1733), architect and stuccoist who worked in Bavaria, Moravia and Poland; Francesco Fontana (1668-1708), architect and engineer; Giovanni Maria Fontana (1670-1712), architect who worked in Russia; Giuseppe Fontana (1676-1739), architect who worked in Poland; Jacopo Fontana (1710-1773), architect of the Royal Court of Poland; Giovanni Antonio Fontana (1738-1803), architect; Luigi Fontana (1824-1894), architect who worked in Russia. A branch of the family in Valsolda included Paolo Fontana (1696-1765), architect who worked in Poland and helped introduce Baroque architecture to Ukraine.
• Gagini Family - Family of architects and sculptors who worked in Italy. The family produced a dozen sculptors between the 15th and 18th centuries. The most important were Domenico Gagini (1420-1492) and Antonello Gagini (1478-1536), who worked on the Palermo Cathedral. Other notable members were Giacomo Gagini (1517-1598), Fazio Gagini (1520-1567) and Vincenzo Gagini (1527-1595).
• Lombardo Family - Family of architects and sculptors from Carona who worked primarily in Venice. They were a branch of the Solari or Solaro Family who changed their name to Lombardo after moving to Venice. The most notable members were Pietro Lombardo (1435-1515), Tullio Lombardo (1455-1532), Antonio Lombardo (1458-1516) and Sante Lombardo (1504-1560). They designed many Venetian tombs and churches.
• Lucchese Family - Family of architects, stuccoists, painters and geometers. The family was ivided into two branches: one from Pambio and one from Melide. The most notable member of the Melide branch was Filiberto Lucchese (1606-1666), one of the main architects of the Viennese court in the 17th century. He also worked in Bohemia and Moravia. He was in charge of the fortifications of Vienna and the eastern border of the Habsburg Empire. His grandfather Alberto Lucchese (c. 1545-1600) was court architect in Innsbruck.
• Lucchini Family - Family of architects from Collina d'Oro. Members of the family included Luca Lucchini (1720-1788), architect who worked in the Bergamo area; Giovanni Francesco Lucchini (1755-1826), architect who worked in Bergamo; Giuseppe Lucchini (1756-1829), architect who worked in Russia; and Pasquale Lucchini (1798-1892), architect and engineer who designed tunnels and roads in Ticino and was one of the founders of the Bank of Italian Switzerland.
• Maggi Family - Family of architects from Bruzella who worked in Czechia and Italy. The most notable members of the family were Giacomo Antonio Maggi (1636-1706), Pietro Maggi (1642-1709) and Pietro Maggi (1756-1816).
• Maraini Family - Family of artists, architects, intellectuals and entrepreneurs in Italy and Japan in the 19th and 20th centuries. The most notable members of the family were: Adelaide Pandiani Maraini (1835-1917), sculptress; Clemente Maraini (1838-1905), engineer and building contractor; Emilio Maraini (1853-1916), deputy of the Kingdom of Italy and founder of the Italian sugar industry; Enrico Maraini (1855-1938), banker and building contractor; Otto Maraini (1863-1944), architect; Carolina Maraini Sommaruga (1869-1959), countess; Antonio Maraini (1886-1963), artist and deputy of the Kingdom of Italy; Fosco Maraini (1912-2004), anthropologist, ethnologist, mountaineer, photographer and writer. Descendants of the family still exist today.
• Pellegrini Family - A prolific family from Coglio which attained prominence in Savoy, Italy, France and Argentina. The founder of the family was Bernardo Pellegrini (born 1758). His sons included Jean Claude Pellegrini (1787-1854), Chief Engineer of the Corps of Bridges and Roads in France; Barthélemy Charles Gaétan Pellegrini (1790-1832), military engineer in Metz; Jean Bernard Pellegrini (1794-1865), architect; and Charles Henri Pellegrini (1800-1875), engineer, lithographer, painter and architect. His grandsons included the architect Charles-Bernard Pellegrini (1819-1864) and the President of Argentina Carlos Pellegrini (1846-1906).
• Pozzi Family - Family of architects, painters and stuccoists from Bruzella who worked in Germany, Switzerland and Italy. Members of the family included Francesco Pozzi (1704-1789), architect, painter and stuccoist; Giuseppe Antonio Pozzi (1732-1811), stuccoist; Carlo Luca Pozzi (1734-1812), sculptor and stuccoist; Domenico Pozzi (1745-1796), painter and historian; Giovanni Domenico Francesco Pozzi (1755-1796), painter; Carlo Ignazio Pozzi (1766-1842), architect, painter and stage designer; and Massimiliano Giuseppe Pozzi (1770-1842), sculptor.
• Solari Family - The Solaro or Solari was a family of architects and sculptors from Carona who worked primarily Italy, but also in Russia and France. Members of the family included Marco Solari (1355-1405), master builder who worked on the Milan Cathedral and the Certosa di Pavia; Giovanni Solari (1400-1482), architect and engineer who worked on the the Milan Cathedral and the Certosa di Pavia; Guiniforte Solari (1429-1481), architect, engineer and sculptor; Francesco Solari (1430-1475), architect and sculptor; Pietro Antonio Solari (1445-1493), architect and sculptor who worked in Moscow; Andrea Solari (1465-1524), painter who worked in France and Italy; and Cristoforo Solari (1468-1524), architect and sculptor. A branch of the Solari Family moved to Venice and changed their name to Lombardo.
• Tencalla Family - Family of artists and architects from Bissone who worked in Auastria, Germany, Poland, Czechia and Italy. Members of the family included Giovanni Giacomo Tencalla (1591-1653), architect and sculptor of the royal courts of Vienna and Poland; Costante Tencalla (1593-1646), architect of the Royal Court of Poland; Carpoforo Tencalla (1623-1685), painter who helped introduce Early Baroque style in Central Europe; Giovanni Pietro Tencalla (1629-1702), architect and sculptor of the Royal Court of Vienna; Giacomo Tencalla (1644-1689), painter who worked in Czechia; and Carpoforo Mazzetti Tencalla (1685-1743), painter, sculptor and stuccoist in Venice.
• Trefogli Family - Family of painters, artisans, architects and engineers from Torricella who worked in Piedmont and Peru in the 19th and 20th centuries. The most notable member of the family was Marco Antonio Trefogli (1782-1854), painter and stuccoist. He had 11 children, including Michele Trefogli (1838-1928), architect, engineer and State Architect of Peru; Bernardo Trefogli, painter; Paolo Trefogli, architect and engineer; and Camillo Trefogli, merchant.
• Trezzini Family - Family of architects from Astano who worked in Russia in the 18th century. The most important member of the family was Domenico Trezzini (1670-1734), who introduced the baroque style to Russia. Other members included Pietro Antonio Trezzini (1692-1760), Carlo Giuseppe Trezzini (1697-1768), Pietro Trezzini (1710-1734), Matteo Trezzini (1710-1750) and Giuseppe Trezzini (1732-1785). The last notable member was Angelo Trezzini (1827-1904), painter, lithographer and illustrator in Milan.
