Between the 800th and 900th centuries there is an illustrious Dalmatian who is intertwined with the history of Venice. The Zadar genius of Professor Ottorino Luxardo in Venice deserves further study. In 1906 he was commissioned to write the Report on the chemical study of the materials used for the construction of the Bell Tower of San Marco.

We are well aware of the ties that unite Dalmatia and Venice. Memory and tradition are still very much alive. The Feast of the Ascension has been celebrated for a millennium. The Dalmatian School of Saints George and Tryphon has been active since 1451.

Ottorino Luxardo's intelligence and passion for science were noted as early as 1894 with his appointment as Dean of the Paolo Sarpi Institute, a role he held for almost 20 years.

Now, thanks to his granddaughter Elena Luxardo and with the collaboration of her husband Aldo Manos, we present the biography of his grandfather Ottorino who was born in Zara on 30 March 1847 to Emanuele (second son of Girolamo Luxardo , founder of the maraschino factory ) and Carolina Emilia Elisabetta Degiovanni.

Ottorino Luxardo attended gymnasium in Zadar and Split and graduated in physics and chemistry at the University of Padua.

Married Teresa Favero, (1848-1915), of Giuseppe and Regina Grisoni. Father of Emanuele, Dr. Augusto, Ottorino, Giacomo (Captain of the Bersaglieri buried in Redipuglia), Dr. Elena and Carlotta.

1871 He taught chemistry and mineralogy at the Royal School of Mines in Caltanissetta.

1877 He founded and directed the Industrial School of Messina.

1881 Transferred as professor of chemistry to Mantua by decree in the Official Gazette.

1882 He published “The Chemistry Laboratory of the Royal Technical Institute of Mantua. Teresiana Library, Mantua. Knight of the Crown of Italy. With Renato Perlini he laid the foundations of the P. Paleocapa Industrial Technical Institute of Bergamo, of which he became Dean.

1890 Member of the Provincial Health Council of Bergamo.

1892 Two of his letters preserved in the Pasini Locatelli correspondence.

1894 Publishes “The Industrial Institute of Bergamo”, Ist. Ital. Graphic Arts, Bergamo.

1894 He was appointed Headmaster of the Paolo Sarpi Technical and Nautical Institute in Venice . He held the position until 1913, and in 1903-04 he added the Master Builders' Course to the evening courses.

Following the appointment, the Bergamo Chamber of Commerce and the Supervisory Board wrote to the Ministry to ask that he remain in Bergamo. We learn that King Umberto, visiting Bergamo, “expressed warm words of praise to Prof. Luxardo who had been able to gather in the institute he directed great wealth and variety of works.

On the 25th anniversary of the foundation of the institute, the students of Prof. Luxardo, who had already become very notable industrialists and merchants among others in Italy, presented him with an artistically decorated register, with their photographs, and a commemorative gold medal.”

1895 Non-resident full member of the Royal Virgilian Academy of Mantua.

1898 Publishes “Elementary Algebra for High School Courses”.

1899: "Commodity Studies – for the Use of Schools and Commercial Agents" published by Hoepli, Milan. "Professor Luxardo's Manual is divided into nine chapters. The first six contain the main notions on the operations and institutions that concern the goods considered in the various studies of their commercial dynamics, that is, from origin to market. The seventh chapter contains a summary study of the investigations that can be carried out on goods for the purpose of identifying them and deducing their special qualities. The eighth chapter of the work offers a succinct description of the characteristics of over six hundred goods, listed alphabetically and also indicated with the French, German, and English nomenclature. Finally, in the ninth chapter, the author discusses the units on the basis of which buying and selling is carried out, provides notes on the customs of merchants in some notable localities, and presents the list of export products from all the countries."

1905 Figure in the Proceedings of the Royal Peloritan Academy of the Pericolanti, Messina.

1906 He wrote the “Report on the chemical study of the materials used for the construction of the Bell Tower of San Marco” (26 August 1906). Polygraphed as a manuscript. Deposited at the Municipality of Venice. Division II. Public Works. 1906. No. 47329. Reprinted in part and commented in L'Adriatico, La Difesa and Gazzetta di Venezia 29-30 August 1906. The reference is found in the volume “Il Campanile di San Marco, Studi, Ricerche, Relazioni. A cura del Comune di Venezia” with citation on pages 325 (note 489) and 326 (note 495) of the Bibliography.

1911 As a member of the Royal Commission for the reform of nautical institutes and nautical education” chaired by Vice-Admiral Duke Napoleone Canevaro, Luxardo compiled his report. The Minister of Public Education Luigi Credaro, fully satisfied with the work, while instructing the president to express his best feelings towards all collaborators without distinction, wanted them expressed in particular towards Prof. Luxardo, so highly praised by Duke Canevaro himself.

1913 He died in Venice on January 10, returning from Milan at midnight, falling into the water from the gondola, perhaps due to illness, in front of the house in Borgoloco San Lorenzo.

He is buried in San Michele in Isola. The funeral will be paid by the Municipality, which dictated the tombstone:

He left his precious collection of minerals to the Paolo Sarpi Institute in Venice.

IL DALMATIA (today the newspaper of the Association of Dalmatian Italians in the World – Free Municipality of Zara in Exile ) No. 4, Zara, 14-15 January 1913, publishes a long article with the title Ottorino Luxardo, from which we take these passages.

“The Mayor of Zara, Dr. Luigi Ziliotto, was informed of his death with this telegram:

“On behalf of the Supervisory Board and the teachers of the Royal Technical-Nautical Institute Paolo Sarpi, I am saddened to inform you of the sudden death of our illustrious and beloved principal Ottorino Luxardo, your worthy fellow citizen, this morning.”

The article concludes: “In Italy, the death of Professor Luxardo has caused widespread mourning, as we have lost a strong scientist, a distinguished patriot, and a most affectionate colleague.”

 Victor Baroni – 19/10/2021
Source: The Master of the House