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 he had studied drawing in Lugo with the teacher Visani, in 1914 he entered Ravenna’s academy of fine arts, where he kept studing with the tutor Vittorio Guaccimanni. He then graduated from Bologna’s academy of fine arts in 1920 and, two years after, he graduated in paiting also in Rome. As a demonstation of the width of his artistic interests, in 1931 he graduated as a double-bass player at the “Regia Accademia Filarmonica” in Bologna.
During his life, he exhibited his works in several national exhibitions and also abroad, like in Paris at the “Salon de Indipendant”, gaining many important acknowledgements.
He started ceramic workshops in several towns and cities in Romagna, he was director of the drawing school of Cotignola and tought at “Liceo Artistico” in Ravenna. He directed the magazine E val and was member of several juries in regional and national competitions.
The city museum and the municipal music school in Cotignola are called after Luigi Varoli.
The museum is inside Palazzo Sforza, it occupies some rooms at the first floor in which several Varoli’s art works are exhibited.
The music school is located inside Casa Varoli (his house) where, beside his music instruments, it’s possible to see some of his drawings and sculptures of heads made with papie-maché.
In 2002 the State of Israel awarded Luigi and Anna Varoli and Vittorio and Serafina Zanzi with the title of Righteous among the Nations and their names are in the Yad Vashem holocaust memorial in Jerusalem.
(Updated to 21/03/2023)
