Paolo Caccia Dominioni: Architect, Soldier, and Memory Keeper
Paolo Caccia Dominioni, born in Nerviano in 1896 and passing away in Rome in 1992, was a multifaceted individual—an architect, artist, writer, and soldier. He enlisted in the Royal Italian Army in May 1915, where he fought on the Isonzo front and received the Bronze Medal for Military Valor. After his architectural endeavors in Cairo, he returned to serve in Libya and Eritrea, later becoming part of the Guastatori in North Africa. He also participated in the Resistance as a member of the 106th Garibaldi Partisan Brigade, ultimately rising to Chief of Staff for the Lombard Corps of Volunteers of Freedom. His memoirs on El Alamein earned him the Bancarella Prize in 1963, and he designed significant military memorials, such as the Sacrario di El Alamein, which honored 4,814 fallen soldiers.
Key facts
- Paolo Caccia Dominioni was born in Nerviano in 1896 and died in Rome in 1992.
- He volunteered in the Royal Italian Army in May 1915, interrupting engineering studies.
- He was decorated with the Bronze Medal for Military Valor on the Isonzo front.
- He worked as an architect in Cairo before being recalled for service in Libya and Eritrea in 1931.
- He served in the Information Office of the High Command in Asmara.
- In 1942 he joined the Guastatori and was assigned to the XXXI Battalion in North Africa.
- He participated in the Resistance after September 8, 1943, in the 106th Garibaldi Partisan Brigade.
- He was arrested twice by the Black Shirts between 1944 and 1945.
- His most famous book is the memoirs on El Alamein, which won the Bancarella Prize in 1963.
- He designed the Italian Embassy in Ankara (1927–1940) in functionalist style.
- He designed the Sacrario di El Alamein in Egypt, recovering 4,814 bodies from 1948.
- In 1985 he created a monument in Gorizia listing 665 names of Italian victims of Tito's partisans.
Entities
Artists
- Paolo Caccia Dominioni
- Niccolò Lucarelli
Institutions
- Regio Esercito
- XXXI Battaglione
- 106ª Brigata Partigiana Garibaldi
- Corpo lombardo Volontari della Libertà
- Ambasciata d’Italia ad Ankara
- Premio Bancarella
- Sacrario di El Alamein
- Artribune
Locations
- Nerviano
- Rome
- Italy
- France
- Austria-Hungary
- Tunisia
- Egypt
- Fiume
- Palermo
- Isonzo
- Cairo
- Libya
- Eritrea
- Asmara
- Sudan
- Ethiopia
- North Africa
- El Alamein
- Asiago
- Salento
- Taranto
- Ankara
- Turkey
- Tripoli
- Murchison
- Bari
- Gorizia
- Lubiana