Domingo Ghirardelli

Ghirardelli in San Francisco, c.1862

Domenico "Domingo" Ghirardelli (Template:IPA; February 21, 1817 – January 17, 1894) was an Italian-born chocolatier who was the founder of the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company in San Francisco, California.

Early life, family and education

Domenico Ghirardelli was born on February 21, 1817,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> in Rapallo, Italy, to Giuseppe and Maddalena (Template:Nee Ferretto) Ghirardelli.<ref name= "family and">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp<ref name= lawrence />Template:Rp His father was a spice merchant in Genoa.<ref name= "family and" />Template:Rp In his teens, he apprenticed at Romanengo, a noted chocolatier in Genoa.<ref name= lawrence>Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Rp

In 1838, at about age 20, he moved to Uruguay, then to Lima, Peru, where he established a confectionery, where he began using the Spanish equivalent of his Italian name, Domingo. In 1849, he moved to California on the recommendation of his former neighbor, James Lick, who had brought Template:Cvt of chocolate with him to San Francisco in 1848. Caught up in the California Gold Rush, he opened his first store in a mining camp to sell sweets and treats to miners who were lacking the small pleasures of life.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Ghirardelli spent a few months in the gold fields near Sonora and Jamestown, before becoming a merchant in Hornitos, California.<ref name= "Hornitos">Template:Cite web</ref>

Career

A selection of Ghirardelli's chocolate in the flagship shop at Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco, California

In 1852, he moved to San Francisco and established the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company at what would come to be known as Ghirardelli Square. According to the San Francisco Chronicle he is San Francisco's most successful chocolatier.<ref name="SF Chronicle 2010">Template:Cite news</ref>

Around the year 1865, a worker at the Ghirardelli factory discovered that by hanging a bag of ground cacao beans in a warm room, the cocoa butter would drip off, leaving behind a residue that could then be converted into ground chocolate. This technique, known as the Broma process is now the most common method used for the production of chocolate.<ref name= "Ghirardelli">Template:Cite web</ref>

Personal life

Ghirardelli married Elisabetta Corsini (nicknamed "Bettina"), a native of Italy, in 1837. She died in 1846.<ref name= lawrence />Template:Rp

Ghirardelli married Carmen Alvarado Martin (1830–1887) in Lima, Peru, in 1847.<ref name= lawrence />Template:Rp <ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Her first husband had been a French physician who had been lost at sea,<ref name= lawrence />Template:Rp and she had an eight-month-old child, Carmen.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> He and Carmen had seven children: Virginia (1847–1867);Template:Efn <ref name= "family and" />Template:Rp Domenico Jr. (1849–1932);; <ref name= "family and" />Template:Rp<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Joseph Nicholas (1852–1906);<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Elvira (1856–1908); <ref name= "family and" />Template:Rp Louis (1857–1902); <ref name= "family and" />Template:Rp Angela (1859–1936);<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and Eugene Gustave (1860–?).Template:Efn<ref name=lawrence164>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name= "family and" />Template:Rp Carmen (the mother) died on September 18, 1887.Template:Cn

Death

Family tomb

He died on January 17, 1894, in Rapallo, Italy from influenza. His body was buried at Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> California along with the rest of his family.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

See also

• Ghirardelli Chocolate Company
• Ghirardelli Square

References

Notes

Citations

External links

Template:Commons category Template:Chocolate