Carlo Pincherle Biography
Carlo Pincherle (1983 - 1944), father of Alberto Moravia, was born in Venice into «a large Jewish family who lived on the Grand Canal». In 1885 he moved to Rome with his mother and sister Amelia to live with his brother Gabriele, secretary at the Ministry of Justice. He built two villas between viale del Castro Pretorio and via di Porta S. Lorenzo for the entrepreneur Clemente Vanoni and for Enrico Formentini (1894), the other, again for Vanoni, who would become one of his main clients, for a villa in via di S. Martino della Battaglia corner with via Sommacampagna (1898). The crisis that hit the capital starting from 1888 led to a forced pause in construction activity. In the new district, the subdivision of Villa Ludovisi which, completed only in the early twentieth century, became a testing ground for new building types: religious institutes, hotels, single-family residences and rented houses. Starting from the early years of the twentieth century, Pincherle created numerous works such as the villas built for the Spierer, Ascoli-Nathan, Levi, Mayer (Mayer villa), Capon, Vivante families, all well structured internally and characterized by the sober elegance of the decorative elements . In 1903 he married Gina De Marsanich; from the marriage Adriana (1905), later a famous painter, Alberto (1907), Elena (1909) and Gastone (1914) were born. Alberto, who, thanks to the help of his father, printed his first novel, Gli indifferenti (1929), at a very young age, would become famous as Alberto Moravia, with the surname of a distant relative. There is no news of Pincherle's activity during the years of the fascist regime other than an early retirement linked to the racial laws. Suffering from a serious form of arteriosclerosis, he died in Rome in 1944, during the German occupation.
