The Avanzini family of Curio, now extinct, was composed of notaries, doctors, clergymen and politicians, who have been an important pivot for the cultural, economic and artistic development of the region in the past. With estates at home and abroad, they lend money, conduct a shrewd marriage policy (several estates as well as decorative artistic works are also the result of these relationships) and are a guarantee of employment for many inhabitants of the region (farm, mill, etc.).

The Avanzini family first appeared in Curio in the year 1394 and is one of the oldest families in the Pieve di Agno. 

From what has been handed down from generation to generation, it is supposed to come from Marzio in the Varesotto region, but from the currently available sources, this cannot be proven. 

The name of this family is first mentioned on 2 February 1394, the day the brothers Martino and Stefano fu Martino purchased land in Curio. In the same year, another Martino Avanzini son of Zanis (Giovanni) Vanzino is mentioned with his two sons, Martino and Stefano, as inhabitants of Curio.

It appears from the earliest sources that the Avanzini already played a role in the establishment of the community. On 9 February 1421, the 'Vicinantia di Curio' the notary Giorgio Avanzini 'ad comparando corum'. From that year on, Curio had a 'notarius plebis' who was mostly appointed from the Avanzini family.

For a period of over 200 years, the notary office remained in the hands of family representatives.

 

The most important members of the family were later doctors or clergymen.

After 1649, the notary's office was moved to Pura, in the hands of the Ruggia and Crivelli families.

It was not until the end of the 19th century that a representative of the Avanzini family signed again as notary: Pietro Giuseppe (1848-1896). This detail may explain why the first notarial protocols returned to Curio, to the Avanzini house.

 

The marriages of this bourgeois family are very ramified and some offshoots are now extinct.

The lineage tables show that for three branches of the family, over the last three hundred years, Despite the high birth rate, the number of children of marriageable age has continuously decreased.

Already by the beginning of the 20th century, some branches had died out and only a few family members, still flourishing two generations ago, resided in Curio.

The causes of the extinction of these branches, as for many other families, can be attributed to the high infant mortality rate in the past centuries, and the entry of many children into the clergy, celibacy and emigration.

 

The last three generations have lived in the Avanzini household:

- Peter John Baptist (1807-1891). physician and deputy mayor of Curio, benefactor of the church, the drawing school and commissioner of the decorations in the Avanzini house.

- Pietro Giuseppe (1848-1896), son of Pietro Giovanni Battista, lawyer and notary, President of the Grand Council of Canton Ticino, a brilliant writer, he was a very important member of the Avanzini dynasty and benefactor of the kindergarten.

- Pietro Adeodato (1889-1973), last descendant of the Avanzini family of the Curio branch and last owner of the Avanzini house. He is described as a great sportsman, an intrepid pioneer, ready to face with ardour and conviction what seemed impossible at the time. He obtained his pilot's licence from the 'Ecole AERO' in Lausanne on 17 October 1918.

He described himself as a 'landowner' in Curio and was a benefactor, with his wife Annita, of the municipality of Curio, the Patriziato and the Parish. His death came suddenly from a motorbike accident in the spring of 1973.

(The entire diploma work at the author's or the Amici di Casa Avanzini association)