Gino Sarfatti

Gino Sarfatti (1912, 1985) was born in Venice on September 16, 1912. His father, Riccardo “Dick”, manages a thriving commercial network. The mother Lucia, called Micaela, belongs to the Trieste Zuccoli family.
The childhood of Gino and his brothers was marked by the economic ease and cosmopolitan environment of the lagoon city. In 1930 he moved to Genoa to enroll in the Faculty of Aeronaval Engineering.
In the meantime, however, the political situation worsened. In 1935, the "stop of the ships", caused by the sanctions inflicted on Italy by the League of Nations, ruined his father.
At 23 Sarfatti is forced to interrupt his studies.
He moved to Milan and, in February 1939, founded Arteluce.
On May 6 of the same year he married Jolanda Marazza.
Arteluce has opened a store in corso Littorio, now corso Matteotti.
In 1943, due to the racial laws and the bombing of Milan, he took refuge with his family in Switzerland. Immediately after the liberation, he returned to Milan and reorganized production.
In 1950 he made an important trip to the United States, during his absence he entrusted the artistic direction of Arteluce to Vittoriano Viganò.
In 1953 the shop was completely renovated by Marco Zanuso and became a center of international attention.
In 1954, the 1063 and 1065 models won the "Grand Prix" at the X Triennale and the 559 model won the Compasso d'Oro.
Since 1949, retail production has been accompanied by export activities and large-scale projects. The latest are the cruise ships Michelangelo and Raffaello and the "cloud" installation for the Teatro Regio in Turin.
At the end of 1973, Sarfatti decides to sell Arteluce to Flos and retires to live in the house in Griante on Lake Como.