Domingo Ghirardelli
Italian-American businessman
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Domenico "Domingo" Ghirardelli (English: /ˌɡɪrərˈdɛli/ GHIRR-ər-DEL-ee,[1] Italian: [doˈmeːniko doˈmiŋɡo ɡirarˈdɛlli]; February 21, 1817 – January 17, 1894) was an Italian-born chocolatier who was the founder of the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company in San Francisco, California.
February 21, 1817
Domenico Ghirardelli | |
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| Born | Domenico Ghirardelli February 21, 1817 Rapallo, Genoa, Kingdom of Sardinia |
| Died | January 17, 1894 (aged 76) Rapallo, Genoa, Kingdom of Italy |
Burial place | Mountain View Cemetery, Oakland, California |
| Monuments | Ghirardelli Square, San Francisco |
| Education | Stefano Romanengo, Genoa |
| Occupation | Chocolatier |
| Known for | Founding the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company |
| Spouses |
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| Children | 8 |
Early life, family and education
Domenico Ghirardelli was born on February 21, 1817,[2] in Rapallo, then part of the Kingdom of Sardinia, to Maddalena (née Ferretto) and Giuseppe Ghirardelli.[3]: 1 [4]: 164 His father was a spice merchant in nearby Genoa.[3]: 3 In his teens, he apprenticed at Romanengo, a noted chocolatier in Genoa.[4]: 90–115
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 600 lb (270 kg) 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.[5] Ghirardelli spent a few months in the gold fields near Sonora and Jamestown, before becoming a merchant in Hornitos, California.[6]
Career
In 1852, Ghirardelli 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.[7] Ghirardelli is America's third oldest chocolate company, and was also among the first globally (1860s) to develop and transport soluble ground chocolate for drinking and baking.[citation needed]
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.[8]
Personal life and death
Ghirardelli married Elisabetta "Bettina" Corsini, a native of Italy like him, in 1837. She died in 1846.[4]: 92
He married Carmen Alvarado Martín (1830–1887) in Lima, Peru, in 1847.[4]: 90–115 [9] Her first husband had been a French physician who had been lost at sea,[4]: 164 and she had an eight-month-old child, Carmen.[10] He and Carmen had seven children: Virginia (1847–1867);[a] [3]: 3 Domenico Jr. (1849–1932);; [3]: 11 [11] Joseph Nicholas (1852–1906);[12] Elvira (1856–1908); [3]: 16–17 Louis (1857–1902); [3]: 19, 21 Angela (1859–1936);[13] and Eugene Gustave (1860–?).[b][14][3]: 26 Carmen (the mother) died on September 18, 1887.[citation needed]
Ghirardelli was a Freemason, joining the San Francisco French-speaking La Parfaite Union Lodge No. 17 in 1869.[15]
He died on January 17, 1894 in his native Rapallo, from influenza. His body was buried at Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, California,[16] along with the rest of his family.[17]
