Remembrance and Renewal

When the author’s mother died in 2003, he and his brother discovered a treasure trove of family documents and heirlooms. some dating back over two centuries, Embedded in these materials was a story of a family that had repeatedly suffered from wars and political upheavals, and yet each time found the strength to recover and once again prosper.

With further research the story line was extended back to the 1400s, when five Jewish banking families three of them originally from Spain, one from Central Europe, and one tracing its history back to Rome in the days of the Caesars, converged on the Duchy of Savoy in Italy’s northwestern corner. While the Dukes of Savoy ruled over a small independent realm, they were buffeted over the centuries by the battles for military and political dominance among the kings of Spain and France, the Austrian emperors, and a long succession of Popes. Ultimately the Dukes prevailed over all of them and united Italy under their crown as Kings of Italy. Over the centuries these five families had to continually adapt as circumstances changed. They learned resiliency and became extraordinarily adept at recovering from external setbacks to repeatedly regain prominence and prosperity.

This inspiring story traces five families over five centuries and shows how they reacted to external political and military challenges.

Castel Rosso, the country villa of Emanuele Montalcini, where the family gathering on the cover of Remembrance and Renewal took place in 1913