The name Martinitt refers to a historical boy
orphanage
An orphanage is a Residential education, residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the Childcare, care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parent ...
of
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, that was established in the 16th Century, now part of
Pio Albergo Trivulzio, a public Milanese institution that provides aid to needy orphans, elders and other people experiencing social difficulties. The name comes from
Saint Martin, as the orphanage was originally based in the eponymous oratory. The orphan boys themselves were thus referred to as ''Martinitt'', a plural of ''Martinett'' ("little Martin") in
Lombard language
Lombard (native name: ,Classical Milanese orthography, and . , Ticinese orthography. Modern Western orthography. or ,Eastern unified orthography. depending on the orthography; pronunciation: ) is a language, belonging to the Gallo-Italic family ...
. The Martinitt played an important role in the history of Milan, most notably in the
Five Days of Milan
The Five Days of Milan ( ) was an insurrection and a major event in the Revolutionary Year of 1848 that started the First Italian War of Independence. On 18 March, a rebellion arose in the city of Milan, and in five days of street fighting ...
.
History
The Martinitt orphanage was founded by
Gerolamo Emiliani
Gerolamo Emiliani, CRS ( it, Gerolamo Emiliani also Jerome Aemilian, Hiëronymus Emiliani) (1486 – 8 February 1537) was an Italian humanitarian, founder of the Somaschi Fathers, and is considered a saint by the Catholic Church.
Born in Ven ...
, who had previously created an orphanage for the poor in
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
. In 1528, Duke
Francesco II Sforza of Milan decided to transfer to Emiliani the oratory of Saint Martin, located in the very centre of Milan (now Via Manzoni), to be used as Milan's orphanage.
Federico Borromeo
Federico Borromeo (18 August 1564 – 21 September 1631) was an Italian cardinal and Archbishop of Milan, a prominent figure of Counter-Reformation Italy.
Early life
Federico Borromeo was born in Milan as the second son of Giulio Cesare Borrom ...
later decided to give out another building, the "Spedale dei Mendicanti" ("beggars' hospital"), which was used for orphan girls. The orphan boys were called ''Martinitt'', while the orphan girls were called ''Stelline''.
In 1776, Empress
Maria Theresa
Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position ''suo jure'' (in her own right). ...
moved the orphanage to
Gessate
Gessate ( lmo, Gessaa ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Milan in the Italian region Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan.
Gessate borders the following municipalities: Cambiago, Masate, Pessano con Bornago, Inz ...
, east of Milan. At the same time, it was decided that the orphans would be housed in the orphanage until the age of 18, and that they would be taught a job.
In 1796, when
Napoleone Bonaparte conquered Milan, he transformed the orphanage in a military hospital. The Martinitt then moved again, first in some buildings in
Brera, then in an abandoned convent, and finally (1803) back to their original seat in Via Manzoni. In 1848, during the
Five Days of Milan
The Five Days of Milan ( ) was an insurrection and a major event in the Revolutionary Year of 1848 that started the First Italian War of Independence. On 18 March, a rebellion arose in the city of Milan, and in five days of street fighting ...
(when the Milanese population rebelled against the Austrian rule), the Martinitt contributed to the success of the Milanese serving as couriers, bringing dispatches from barricade to barricade.
In 1932, a new seat for the Martinitt was established by
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...
in Via Pitteri, near
Lambrate
Lambrate ( lmo, Lambraa ) is a district (''quartiere'') of Milan, Italy, located within the Zone 3 administrative division, north-east of the city centre. It owes its name to the Lambro river that traverses the area. Lambrate houses one of the m ...
.
Today, the Martinitt (and the Stelline orphanage for girls) have merged into a wider social care institution called
Pio Albergo Trivulzio. A museum dedicated to the history of the Martinitt and the Stelline has been established in 2009 in Corso Magenta 57, in the building next to the "Stelline Palace" (the original seat of the Stelline orphanage).
Museo Martinitt e Stelline
(in Italian)
Notable ''Martinitt'' orphans
* Angelo Rizzoli
Angelo Rizzoli, OML (; 31 October 1889 – 24 September 1970) was an Italian publisher and film producer.
Early life
Rizzoli was born in Milan on 31 October 1889. Orphaned at a young age and raised in poverty, he rose to prosperity. He appren ...
, founder of RCS MediaGroup
RCS MediaGroup S.p.A. (formerly Rizzoli-Corriere della Sera), based in Milan and listed on the Italian Stock Exchange, is an international multimedia publishing group that operates in daily newspapers, magazines and books, radio broadcasting, n ...
, one of Italy's prominent publishing houses
* Leonardo Del Vecchio
Leonardo Del Vecchio (22 May 1935 – 27 June 2022) was an Italian billionaire businessman, the founder and chairman of Luxottica, the world's largest producer and retailer of glasses and frames, with 77,734 employees and over 8,000 stores. At t ...
, founder of Luxottica
Luxottica Group S.p.A. is an Italian eyewear conglomerate and the world's largest company in the eyewear industry. It is based in Milan, Italy.
Luxottica is a vertically integrated company, which has been described as a monopoly—it designs, m ...
, the world's largest eyewear company
* Edoardo Bianchi
Edoardo Bianchi (17 July 1865 – 3 July 1946) was an Italian entrepreneur and inventor who founded the bicycle manufacturing company Bianchi in 1885 and the Italian automobile manufacturer Autobianchi
Autobianchi () was an Italian automobile ...
, founder of Bianchi Bicycles
F.I.V. Edoardo Bianchi S.p.A., commonly known as Bianchi () is the world's oldest bicycle manufacturing company in existence, having pioneered the use of equal-sized wheels with pneumatic rubber tires. The company was founded in Italy in 1885 and ...
, a pioneering bicycle-making factory
Footnotes
See also
* Stelline
External links
Association of Ex Martinitt
(in Italian)
{{Authority control
History of Milan
Organisations based in Milan
Orphanages in Italy
Hospitals in Milan