Luigi Varoli was born in Cotignola on the 23rd of September 1889 and died on the 25th of September in 1958. He was a painter and a musician.
After studying drawing in Lugo under Visani, he enrolled in 1914 at the Academy of Ravenna, where he continued his studies under Vittorio Guaccimanni. He graduated from the Academy in Bologna in 1920 and, two years later, he obtained a licence for higher courses in painting in Rome. In 1931, demonstrating the eclectic nature of his interests in the artistic field, he graduated in double-bass at the Regia Accademia Filarmonica in Bologna.
During his lifetime, he exhibited at various national exhibitions and in Paris at the Salon des Indépendants, receiving various important awards. He set up ceramics workshops in many towns in Romagna, directed the drawing school in Cotignola and taught at the Liceo Artistico in Ravenna. He edited the magazine E val and served on juries in regional and national competitions.
The museum and the municipal music school are dedicated to Luigi Varoli. The first is located inside Palazzo Sforza, in some rooms on the first floor, where various works by the artist are exhibited.
The second one is located inside Casa Varoli where, in addition to his musical instruments, you can also admire some of his drawings and papier-mâché heads.
In 2002, Luigi and Anna Varoli and Vittorio and Serafina Zanzi were awarded the medal of “Righteous Among the Nations” by the State of Israel and their names appear on the Yad Vashem memorial in Jerusalem.
(Updated to 13/07/2023)
