12 September 1877: born in Florence
Fernand Jacopozzi was born on 12 September 1877 in Florence, the eldest of seven children of a Florentine bourgeois family. An engineer by training, he would leave for Paris at the age of twenty-two, where the 1900 World Exhibition would reveal his calling.
Florence, 12 September 1877. In Florence, Fernando Jacopozzi comes into the world — the eldest of seven children of a family of the Florentine bourgeoisie.
A Tuscan childhood
Florence at the close of the nineteenth century is a city in transformation. Gas lamps are beginning to give way to the first electric bulbs. Young Fernando grows up in this changing world, fascinated by this invisible force capable of conquering the night.
The training
Fernando studies engineering in Florence. He is precise, meticulous, tireless. He quickly understands that electricity is not merely a technique — it is an art.
The departure
In 1900, at twenty-two, he learns that Paris is staging a World Exhibition of unprecedented scale. He leaves alone, with little money, but absolute conviction.
He would never live in Italy again.