Girolamo Luxardo | |
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![]() Portrait of Girolamo Luxardo | |
Born | Carlo Maria Viola 1784 |
Died | 1865 |
Occupation(s) | Entrepreneurship, Industrialism |
Girolamo Luxardo (1784–1865) was an Italian entrepreneur and diplomat, founder of the Italian liqueur brand Girolamo Luxardo. [1]
He was born in Santa Margherita Ligure in Liguria, in the Kingdom of Sardinia, in 1784. [1] [2] Luxardo was the descendant of a noble Ligurian family. [1]
In 1817 he moved to Zara (today Zadar, Croatia). [1] [2] His wife Maria Canevari produced liqueurs at home, specializing in "rosolio maraschino", a liquor from Dalmatia. [3] In 1821, he opened a distillery, receiving the privilege to produce maraschino from the Court of Vienna. [1] [4] Thus he transformed the maraschino from home-made product into an industrial product that soon gained international fame. [1]
The presidency of Zadar's chamber of commerce, which was re-organized by Luxardo, was held by members of his family until 1943. [1] The members of the Luxardo family consolidated the trade relationships between Italy and Dalmatia. [1]
His distillery became the most important of Austria-Hungary and, after the World War I and the annexation of Zadar to Italy, one of the most important of the Kingdom of Italy. [1] The factory was destroyed in the 1943 bombings, and in the aftermath of World War II moved to Padua by his descendants. [1]
Luxardo died in 1865 in Zara (Zadar). [1]