OUR HISTORY

GIOVANNI ANTONIO DOMENICO MONTI was born in Milan on the 21th of March 1780. His trade was passamanterie, as shown in the marriage certificate of his son, dated 02/09/1860.

The direction of the firm was then taken over by his son, MARINO FRANCESCO, born in Milan on 09/03/1820, who took part in the famous revolt known as "5 giornate di Milano" (5 days of Milan) in 1848. Around 1885 his son MODESTO replaced him in the firm's management. Born on 14/10/1863 from a second marriage, on 16/09/1889 he merged the company with the BALDI firm which had operated in the same field since the previous century. On 16/09/1889 the company called "BALDI E MONTI" of BALDI LUIGI and MONTI MODESTO was born, located in Via Cornacchia 5, with a capital stock of 20.000 liras. In February 1893 BALDI LUIGI died and was succeeded in the company management by his sister MATILDE, married to MONTI MODESTO. On the 1st of November 1902 the firm relocated from Via Cornacchia to Dergano, which then belonged to the Affori municipality. A few years afterwards, with the arrivals of electrical power beyond the bastions of the city (in the Farini area), the company returned to Milan, at the address of Via Arnaldo da Brescia 6. In 1922 the company name changed to "ANTICA DITTA BALDI E MONTI". The company was then managed by the son CARLO, born in Milan on 10/11/1885 and married to GALLI ANGELA on 16/10/1909. Angela had been working in the company for some time before the marriage.

Interestingly, in 1901, when Giuseppe Verdi died, CARLO's wife, who was then only thirteen years old, worked night and day, together with other employees, on the passamanterie and the drapery embellishing the horses and the hearse for the funeral service of the famous composer. In 1929 CARLO MONTI transferred the firm from the old location of Via Arnaldo da Brescia to the current location of Via Vignati 9, where he lived until his death in 1943. When CARLO died, during the Second World War, three of his sons were fighting on the French and Russian front and the fourth was still a minor. The company management was taken over by Carlo's wife, ANGELA GALLI. As a result, the name of the company was changed to "DITTA CARLO MONTI DI GALLI ANGELA E FIGLI". In 1955 when the three surviving sons RENATO, PIERO and GIANCARLO succeeded to their mother in the company management, the new trade name became "FIGLI DI CARLO MONTI".

During the following years, the company continued its activity following the tradition, making use of looms going back to the XVIII century. Hower, the trade was also innovated with the introduction of modern mechanical looms. Later on, in 1981, the nephews SILVANO, LUCIANO and MAURO became involved in the company management and in 1982 they founded a company called "DOMUS s.n.c.", which, along with the "FIGLI DI CARLO MONTI s.n.c." continues its activity to this day. Our company history was illustrated with photographs, documents and relics at the workshop called "L'ingegno del fare" (The inventiveness of craftmanship), organized by the Chamber of Commerce in Milan. This exhibition, held at the Museo della Scienza e della Tecnica (Museum of Science and Technology) "Leonardo da Vinci" from 16/05/2000 to 30/06/2000, was devoted to the small and medium-size businesses that still preserve the tradition of handicrafts.