Ansaldo Poggi

Who was Ansaldo Poggi?

Ansaldo Poggi was born in Villafontana di Medicina, 9 June 1893 and died in Bologna, 4 September 1984. He demonstrated his talent for the making of stringed instruments at a young age. His father, also an artisan, musician and amateur violinmaker, encouraged his son, steering him toward the arts. After the end of World War I he dedicated himself to the profession, taking up the craft again alongside his father while at the same time graduating from the Philharmonic Academy of Bologna. In 1921 he met up with the famous luthier Giuseppe Fiorini, of whom he was an adored disciple. In 1923 he won his first silver medal with a viola at the National Competition in Rome.

In 1925, 1927 and 1929 he was awarded many gold medals, which resulted in his no longer being permitted to compete. With the passing of the years Poggi became stylistically independent of Fiorini, and was soon producing instruments of a shape and reflecting a taste all his own. He became an enormous success on both a national and international level.

Gian Carlo Guicciardi, Gianpaolo Savini and Neldo Ferrari have to be considered his students.