Famous people
Reggio Emilia
Marco Emilio Lepido
Marco Emilio Lepido, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus in latin (187 b.C. - 153 a.C) was an important commander of the Roman Republic
Ludovico Ariosto
The great poet, author of "The Furious Orlando", was born in Reggio Emilia in 1474 where he lived during his childhood. He was also Governor in Garfagnana region. His poetry was well-known for its famous knights, weapons and loves.
Cristoforo Munari
Cristoforo Munari, one of the leading protagonists of Italian still life painting between the 1600s and 1700s, found in prestigious collections in both Italy and abroad.
Filippo Re
Filippo Re (1763 - 1817) devoted himself to botanic studies and agriculture. He taught in Reggio Emilia, Bologna and Modena, and also had an active role in the public life of that time.
Antonio Fontanesi
Antonio Fontanesi (Reggio Emilia, 1818 - Turin, 1882) is considered one of the most important Italian painters of the XIX century.
Camillo Prampolini
He was called "The apostle of socialism" because of his dedication to humanitarian socialism.
Maria Melato
Maria Melato was born in Reggio Emilia October 16, 1885. She was one of the best theatre and cinema actresses of the first half of the 20th century, icon of elegance, glamour and passion. Panizzi Library hosts the Foundation with scripts, photos and documents.
Ferruccio Tagliavini
Born in 1913 in the small village Cavazzoli, near Reggio Emilia, has been one of the most beloved voices of Melodrama.
Loris Malaguzzi
Loris Malaguzzi (Correggio, 1920 - Reggio Emilia, 1994), graduate in pedagogy and psychology, tirelessly promoted an innovative philosophy of education appraising the wealth of potentials and resources of all children, as expressed in the concept of the “hundred languages of children".
Paolo Borciani
Born in Reggio Emilia in 1922, he dedicated his whole life to music; he is the founder and first violin of the Quartetto Italiano.
Silvio D'Arzo
The writer Silvio D'Arzo, favourite pen-name of Ezio Comparoni, lived in the XX century and was original and lonely at the same time.
Romolo Valli
Romolo Valli, important actor in Italian theatre, was born in Reggio Emilia in 1925. He was also a film actor as well as a dubbing artist and television presenter.
Marco Gerra
Marco Gerra (Reggio Emilia 1925 - 2000) started his artistic work in Modena, where he knew Afro, Spazzapan and Corsi, and in Bologna from 1946, where he attended Morandi and Guidi's lessons at Fine Arts Academy.
Vasco Ascolini
The photographer Vasco Ascolini was born in Reggio Emilia in 1937 and started his activity in the 1960s. In the 1970s he long collaborated with Teatro Municipale Valli. Ascolini sees the world in black-and-white only.
Zucchero
Blues singer Adelmo Fornaciari, universally known as Zucchero, was born at Roncocesi September 25, 1955.
Fondazione Nazionale della Danza Compagnia Aterballetto
In April 2003, Centro della Danza, formerly Centro Regionale della Danza (Dance Regional Centre), became Fondazione Nazionale della Danza (Dance National Foundation). The members of the foundation are the Region of Emilia-Romagna and the Municipality of Reggio Emilia
Father Angelo Secchi
Jesuit, physicist, astronomer, meteorologist, director for almost thirty years of the Observatory of the Roman College, passionately dedicates his energies to research. It makes a fundamental contribution to the birth of astrophysics, to the development of modern meteorology - it is among other things the creator of what could now be defined as the Weather Forecast - in a vision of science at the service of the common good and progress.
Giannetto Cimurri
Giannetto Cimurri (1905-2002) was a myth of cycling, real ambassador of the local sport when globalization did not exist.
Nilde Iotti
Nilde Iotti (1920-1999) was the first woman in the history of the Italian Republic to hold the presidency of the Chamber of Representatives. He held the post for three legislatures between 1979 and 1992: until now, it is the longest term as Speaker of the Chamber since the establishment of the Republic.
Miss Deanna
An Italian-style successful story: Deanna Ferretti Veroni, the woman who invented knitwear.
Bibbiano
Stanislao Farri
Stanislao Farri (1924-2021) started as printer worker and has devoted himself to photography from 1943. His research is focused on the local territory. His photo archives are very rich and are kept in the Reggio Emilia-based Panizzi Library.
Boretto
Marcello Nizzoli
Marcello Nizzoli was an industrial designer, the most important of the Italian XX century, the father of the most famous typewriter Olivetti.
Brescello
Antonio Panizzi
Exiled because of a sentence to death for "Carboneria", Panizzi had as a companion in misfortune the poet Ugo Foscolo and fulfilled many different position inside the British Library in London where he became the "main librarian".
Correggio
Antonio Allegri
Painter Antonio Allegri, called "Il Correggio", was born in Correggio in 1494 and died in 1534. He is considered one of the major national painters of the XVI century
Dorando Pietri
Dorando Pietri, also known as Dorando Petri (Correggio, October 16, 1885 - Sanremo, February 7, 1942), was an Italian athlete who went down in history for the dramatic epilogue of the Marathon at the London Olympic Games of 1908.
Pier Vittorio Tondelli
Tondelli (Correggio, 1955 - 1991) was one of the most read writers of the latest generation. In his novels he always tried to use a language particularly suitable for young people.
Luciano Ligabue
Luciano Ligabue, the "Italian Elvis" was born in Correggio in 1960, is the most authoritative and credible incarnation of rock music in Italy . He is also author, actor and film director.
Gattatico
The seven Cervi Brothers
Cervi were a numerous family of tenant farmers, who lived in Praticello di Gattatico, composed of father Alcide, mother Genoveffa Cocconi, seven male sons (Gelindo, Antenore, Aldo, Agostino, Ferdinando, Ovidio, Ettore) and two female daughters (Diomira and Caterina). The seven male sons, fervently antifascist, were shot to death by the fascists in Reggio Emilia December 28, 1943, after their house was destroyed and they were arrested one month earlier.
Gualtieri
Antonio Ligabue
Antonio Ligabue (Zurich 1899 - Gualtieri 1965) was an Italian painter and sculptor, among the most important Naive Art artists of the XX century. His art is chacterized by the force of the rural world that Ligabue came from and by the instinct of his madness.
Luzzara
Cesare Zavattini
Zavattini (Luzzara, 1902 - Rome, 1989) was an artist of the Po River plain in Reggio Emilia province and had in himself the liveliness and gloom of that area. Son of a confectioner master, he was an artist who did much and did it well. Cinema, theatre, painting, literature and poetry.
Montecchio Emilia
Omar Galliani
His works are characterized by the detail enlarged into big graphite clouds. Some people say that his pictures are kind of prayers because of their strong spiritual emotion that may remind them of Our Lady.
Novellara
Lelio Orsi
Lelio Orsi was certainly one of the most refined and complex protagonists of the second phase of Mannierism, "in architecture magno, in pictura maiori et in delineamentis optimo", as cited on his tombstone currently located in Novellara-based Church of Santo Stefano.
I Nomadi
Augusto Daolio, founder and soloist voice, died in 1992, but the band - founded in 1963 - has continued its activity during more than 50 years of music and concerts all over the world.
Quattro Castella
Matilda of Canossa
Grand Countess Matilda of Canossa, also known as Matilda of Tuscany, was a medieval countess, duchess, marchioness and queen. Matilda was a powerful feudal landowner and an ardent supporter of the Papacy in the investiture struggle. Her story is an important part of the construction of Europe and her vicissitudes are emblematic of the role played by women in the history of Western Europe.
San Martino in Rio
Henghel Gualdi
Henghel Gualdi was born in San Martino in Rio July 4, 1924, and died in Bologna June 16, 2005. He was a composer and clarinet player well-known abroad, and is considered one of the greatest performers of this instrument.
Scandiano
Matteo Maria Boiardo
Matteo Maria Boiardo was born in Scandiano Fortress in 1441. His most important work as a poet is "L'Orlando Innamorato" ("Orlando in Love"). He was given important missions by Estensi dukes Borso and Ercole I, and was also military Governor of Modena and Reggio Emilia.
Lazzaro Spallanzani
He was the creator of the experimental physiology and biology, and was called "The Colombo of the microcosmos of the living people"
Luigi Ghirri
Luigi Ghirri (Scandiano, 1943 - 1992) was one of the most important Italian photographers and one of the few known worldwide. He defined himself as "a little boy sitting on a low wall who captures the life that passes in front of him".
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