| Girolamo Luxardo | |
| Birth Name: | Carlo Maria Viola |
| Birth Date: | 1784 |
| Birth Place: | Santa Margherita Ligure, Kingdom of Sardinia |
| Death Date: | 1865 |
| Death Place: | Zara, Kingdom of Dalmatia, Austrian Empire (Today Zadar, Croatia) |
| Occupation: | Entrepreneurship, Industrialism |
Girolamo Luxardo (1784–1865) was an Italian entrepreneur and diplomat, founder of the Italian liqueur brand Girolamo Luxardo.[1]
He was born in Santa Margherita Ligure in Liguria, in the Kingdom of Sardinia, in 1784.[1] [2] Luxardo was the descendant of a noble Ligurian family.[1]
In 1817 he moved to Zara (today Zadar, Croatia).[1] [2] His wife Maria Canevari produced liqueurs at home, specializing in "rosolio maraschino", a liquor from Dalmatia.[3] In 1821, he opened a distillery, receiving the privilege to produce maraschino from the Court of Vienna.[1] [4] Thus he transformed the maraschino from home-made product into an industrial product that soon gained international fame.[1]
The presidency of Zadar's chamber of commerce, which was re-organized by Luxardo, was held by members of his family until 1943.[1] The members of the Luxardo family consolidated the trade relationships between Italy and Dalmatia.[1]
His distillery became the most important of Austria-Hungary and, after the World War I and the annexation of Zadar to Italy, one of the most important of the Kingdom of Italy.[1] The factory was destroyed in the 1943 bombings, and in the aftermath of World War II moved to Padua by his descendants.[1]
Luxardo died in 1865 in Zara (Zadar).[1]