The Migone Family

MONSIGNOR GIUSEPPE MIGONE

Giuseppe Migone, grandson of Eugenio Migone, was born in Genoa on 11 May 1875. He moved to Rome as a seminarian and at 23 years of age was ordained to the priesthood on 14 August 1898. In 1912, Giuseppe Migone was made supernumerary privy chamberlain, a very prestigious title as it often represented the first step towards cardinalship. For a long time he was special secretary to the Deputy Secretary of State Giacomo della Chiesa, supporting him as participating privy chamberlain when della Chiesa was appointed Pope on 3 September 1914 under the name Benedict XV. Giuseppe Migone retained the same role also after 7 February 1922 when Achille Ratti was appointed Pope under the name Pius XI. On 20 December 1923, Giuseppe Migone was made Domestic Prelate, an honorary title bestowed following a special concession made by the Holy See to presbyters, and on 30 March of the following year he was appointed apostolic ablegate for the delivery of the cardinal’s biretta to Spaniard Eustaquio Ilundáin y Esteban, newly-appointed cardinal and archbishop of Seville. In 1935, Pius XI made Migone titular archbishop of Nicomedia and secret almoner and, one month later, ordained him bishop in the Sistine Chapel and then assistant to the Pontifical Throne and Vatican canon. He took part in the 1939 conclave that elected Pope Eugenio Pacelli, Pius XII, whom Migone would serve as secret almoner until his death on 1 January 1951.

EUGENIO MIGONE DAVIS CUP CAPTAIN

Eugenio Migone was born in Florence on 7 June 1916, son of Nicola Migone Senior and Ada Lazzeri. Eugenio married Adele Pietrabissa in 1932, later re-marrying Fiamma Boris. His first marriage produced a son, Nicola, named after his grandfather, in 1942. His competitive spirit and love of tennis, a sport played by middle-class families all over Europe in the 1930s, saw him enjoy his first successes, particularly in doubles and also on behalf of his country in Istanbul against Turkey. He is remembered for inventing a new shot, the smash on the bounce, played on one knee. He was second-tier Italian doubles and mixed doubles champion and reached the final of the 1958 Italian International Championships mixed doubles in tandem with Spaniard De Riba. Member of Florence Tennis Club from the early 30s and then director of the Circolo delle Cascine club following the Second World War, he was appointed director of Federtennis, the Italian Tennis Federation, in 1958 and chairman of the Federation’s technical committee the following year before being made Davis Cup captain in 1960-1961. In 1977 he was appointed chairman of Florence Tennis Club, a position he held until 2000 when he was made honorary chairman. He died in 2010.

NICOLA MIGONE

Nicola Migone was born on 6 June 1942. He began playing tennis aged 13 at Florence Tennis Club, following in the footsteps of his father Eugenio, a fine doubles player. His first major success was winning the doubles at the Italian Junior Championships in 1961 together with Alessandro Dalgas. For the next three years he was the overall winner of the 3rd-tier championships. Promoted into the 2nd tier at 19, he quickly rose to number 1, which at the time corresponded to the Italian no. 12. In 1964-65 he played in various fixtures with the Italian junior side in France and Germany. When he was 23 he carried out his military service in the Special Athletes’ Unit in Naples, for whom he won 17 consecutive national and international tournaments. After finishing his military service he slowed down his sporting activities and began working in the family business. In 1966 he married Michèle Finck, a Belgian citizen, with whom he celebrates 50 years of marriage this year.

CERERIA PROFUMERIA MIGONE – established by Anna Migone

Niccolò Migone and Ada Lazzeri married on 2 June 1904. Between 1905 and 1916 they had four children: Annetta, known as Anna, Tecla, Clara and Eugenio, who would inherit the factory. In the early 30s their first-born, Anna, born in 1905, launched herself into her own entrepreneurial adventure, opening a perfume and household object wholesalers in via Condotta. It soon became a well-known destination in the city for the purchase of Migone candles.

FARMACIA FERRINI – owned by Gastone Ferrini and Tecla Migone

Tecla Migone was born on 5 December 1909. The second child of Nicola, she married doctor Antonio Casini and had two daughters: Maria Teresa, in 1931, and Nicoletta, in 1935. Casini supported the Migone factory during its struggles in the 1930s and died in 1955. Tecla’s second husband was local pharmacist, Gastone Ferrini. Ferrini's pharmacy was originally located at 140/r via Pisana but in around 1950 Ferrini purchased the buildings on the ground floor of 53 via Pisana, the building opposite the shop, where he transferred the pharmacy and a pharmaceutical lab for the preparation of the drugs. The pharmaceutical lab was closed and demolished in 1968. The pharmacy still exists and is run by Filippo Fucile, grandson of Tecla (who died in 1994), son of her first daughter Maria Teresa Casini Ferrini.

CLARA MIGONE ARTIST

Clara Migone, daughter of Niccolò and Ada Migone, never married and devoted her life to painting, joining the artistic circle of Marino Marini, Ugo Capocchini and Ottone Rosai. In 1934 she exhibited her work at a personal show and, together with painters Lodovico Cavaleri and Bruno Croatto, appeared in the seventh catalogue of the Bottega d’arte of Livorno. In 1942 she exhibited in Milan and appeared in the catalogue of Galleria Gian Ferrari of Milan together with painter Oreste Zuccoli. One of her works, a still life oil painting on a panel, undated and 64x44cm in size, is currently stored in the warehouses of the Gallery of Modern Art of Palazzo Pitti. After the Great Flood, Clara Migone became more involved with the family business, devoting herself to company life and even living in the flat above the offices after the move to the Scandicci site. She died in 1976.

MIGONE CONFETTI from 1916 – owned by Ferdinando Migone and Fiammetta Lucii

Ferdinando, born on 22 June 1886, was the son of Eugenio Senior. He married Fiammetta Lucii in 1919. Having almost entirely lost his hearing at 18 years of age, Ferdinando chose to leave the factory to dedicate himself to other projects. He used his severance pay to realise his wife’s dream of opening a confectionary shop. And so, on 23 April 1926 in Montecatini, Migone Confetti was opened. After a couple of years a second shop was opened in Florence. With two small daughters to look after, Fiammetta soon left the Montecatini shop to devote herself to the Florence shop and, in 1928, she opened a third shop close to Florence Cathedral. Migone Confetti sells sweets, party favours and confectionary. The shop in via Calzaioli still exists and is now run by the fourth generation of the family: after Fiammetta, it was managed by her daughters Giovanna and Lyda, by Lyda’s daughter-in-law, and finally by her grandchildren and great grandchildren.

ALBERTO MIGONE – Toscana Oggi

Alberto, son of Giovanni Migone, was editor of the Toscana Oggi publication for over 25 years. Born in Florence on 22 January 1935, he graduated in History from the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy of Florence in 1958. He actively participated in the Federation of Catholic Universities, in the Movimento dei Laureati di Azione Cattolica movement and in Azione Cattolica association, of which he became diocesan president, regional delegate and national director. In 1983 the Tuscan bishops appointed him editor of the new weekly magazine of the regional diocese, which introduced a new formula for the Catholic press: a single newspaper but with different local editions. Migone was also appointed national director and chairman of the Culture Committee of the FISC, the Italian Federation of Catholic Weeklies. He died on 31 May 2009.