Simone Fernando Sacconi - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Simone Fernando Sacconi (Rome, May 30, 1895 – Point Lookout

Point Lookout

-Places:*Point Lookout, Maryland*Point Lookout, Missouri*Point Lookout, New York*Point Lookout, Queensland*Point Lookout State Park in Maryland*Point Lookout Cemetery in the Louisiana State Penitentiary -Other:*Point Lookout Sandstone...

, June 26, 1973) was an expert Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

violin maker and restorer who studied fellow luthier
Luthier
A luthier is someone who makes or repairs lutes and other string instruments. In the United States, the term is used interchangeably with a term for the specialty of each maker, such as violinmaker, guitar maker, lute maker, etc...

Antonio Stradivari

Antonio Stradivari

Antonio Stradivari was an Italian luthier and a crafter of string instruments such as violins, cellos, guitars, violas, and harps. Stradivari is generally considered the most significant artisan in this field. The Latinized form of his surname, Stradivarius, as well as the colloquial, "Strad", is...

extensively during his lifetime.

"While still at school he became a workshop assistant to Giuseppe Rossi, a pupil of Degani. By the time he was 16, Sacconi already had his own clientele, and a particular ability as a maker of copies.
In 1931 he moved to New York to work for the dealer Emil Herrmann. He continued to make new instruments – and occasionally bows – but his time there was mainly taken up with repairs and restoration work. In this field he had no equal, an example of his work being a Stradivari of the best period, virtually destroyed in an accident in 1948, which now shows no sign of having suffered. In the imitation of old Italian varnish he excelled all rivals.

In 1951, upon the invitation of Rembert Wurlitzer, Sacconi went with his pupil D’Attili to work for Rembert Wurlitzer Co.. A first-class workshop was built up and many of the best American repairers were trained in it. In his last years he spent much time teaching in Cremona

Cremona

Cremona is a city and comune in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po River in the middle of the Pianura Padana . It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local City and Province governments...

, Italy, and published I segreti di Stradivari (Cremona, 1972), setting out in detail Stradivari’s working methods." - CHARLES BEARE

His constant experiments with varnish was almost an obsession.
He was one of the principal organizers of the Stradivari Bicentennial Exhibition in Cremona in 1937.
Sacconi won gold medal for a quartet of instruments.
In 1972, he was bestowed honorary citizenship by Cremona (the highest honor).

Sacconi has directly influenced several generations of makers/restorers:
Charles Beare, Max Moller,Pierre Vidoudez, Dario D'Attili, Hans Weisshaar

Hans Weisshaar

Hans Weisshaar was an important American violin restorer.He worked in Germany, Switzerland and Holland before coming to the United States in 1937, where he was employed with Simone Sacconi at Emil Herrmann in New York.In 1947 he moved with his family to Hollywood, California, where he established...

, Anthony Wrona

Anthony Wrona

Anthony Wrona - was an influential American Luthier and Archetier .He was born in Buffalo, NY. As a youngster, was fascinated by making instruments ....

, Jacques Francais, Frank Passa

Frank Passa

Frank Passa was an internationally known American maker of bows and violins .A native of New York City, Frank Passa was a pupil of Simone Fernando Sacconi a very talented violin maker from Italy. Sacconi and his shop helped develop many of the modern techniques of restoration that are still being...

, Bernard Millant

Bernard Millant

Bernard Millant is a world renowned bow maker / archetier and luthier in Paris, France. He is the son of Max Millant.He studied violin making at Amédée Dieudonné's workshop in Mirecourt...

, Mario F. D'Alessandro, Harry Duffy, Renè Morel, William Salchow, Hans Nebel, Vahakn Nigogosian, Carlos Arcieri, David Segal, Carleen M. Hutchins, Francesco Bissolotti, William J. Huggler, Ronald J. Huggler.

Through his disciples (such as Jacques Francais / Renè Morel), he has influenced makers/restorers such as Samuel Zygmuntowicz

Samuel Zygmuntowicz

Samuel Zygmuntowicz is a contemporary luthier. He began his instrument making training when he was thirteen years old and studied making and restoration under Peter Prier, Carl Becker and Rene Morel....

, Horacio Piñeiro, Boris Sverdlik, David T. Van Zandt, James N. McKean, Christophe Landon, Richard Oppelt, from the shop of Hans Weisshaar came Otto Karl Schenk, David Burgess, Tom Wilder,Andreas Mages (Germany) Bruce Carlson (Italy), Wendy and Peter Moes to name a few.

Many celebrated musicians came to him for advice and entrusted him with their precious instruments when they needed attention.
List includes Isaac Stern

Isaac Stern

Isaac Stern was a Ukrainian-born violinist. He was renowned for his recordings and for discovering new musical talent.-Biography:Isaac Stern was born into a Jewish family in Kremenets, Ukraine. He was fourteen months old when his family moved to San Francisco...

, Yehudi Menuhin

Yehudi Menuhin

Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin, OM, KBE was a Russian Jewish American violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in the United Kingdom. He was born to Russian Jewish parents in the United States, but became a citizen of Switzerland in 1970, and of the United Kingdom in 1985...

, Salvatore Accardo

Salvatore Accardo

Salvatore Accardo is an Italian violin virtuoso and conductor.He is highly regarded for his interpretations of Paganini, J. S. Bach, Antonio Vivaldi, contemporary works, chamber music, and opera conducting....

, Pina Carmirelli

Pina Carmirelli

Pina Carmirelli was an Italian violinist.She started studying music and playing in public when she was very young. She was a pupil of Michelangelo Abbado, and graduated from the Milan Conservatory in violin and composition . She won the Premio Stradivari in 1937 and the Premio Paganini in 1940...

, Pablo Casals

Pablo Casals

Pau Casals i Defilló , known during his professional career as Pablo Casals, was a Spanish Catalan cellist and conductor. He is generally regarded as the pre-eminent cellist of the first half of the 20th century, and one of the greatest cellists of all time...

, Paul Doktor

Paul Doktor

Paul Doktor was a notable violist and orchestra conductor.The son of singer-pianist Georgine and violist Karl Doktor, at the age of five, Paul began violin studies with his father, and received his diploma from the State Academy of Music in 1938...

, Pierre Fournier

Pierre Fournier

Pierre Fournier was a French cellist who was called the "aristocrat of cellists," on account of his elegant musicianship and majestic sound....

, Zino Francescatti

Zino Francescatti

René-Charles "Zino" Francescatti was a French virtuoso violinist.Zino Francescatti was born in Marseilles, to a musical family. Both parents were violinists. His father, who also played the cello, had studied with Camillo Sivori. Zino studied violin from age three and was quickly recognized as a...

, Joseph Fuchs

Joseph Fuchs

Joseph Fuchs was one of the most important American violinists and teachers of the 20th century, and the brother of Lillian Fuchs....

, Raya Garbousova

Raya Garbousova

Raya Garbousova was a cellist and teacher.-Early life & career:According to the biography contained in the program booklet for the 1997 memorial concert in her honor in DeKalb, Illinois, she made her formal debut in Moscow in 1923 and left the Soviet Union in 1925. She lived and performed in...

, Carlo Maria Giulini

Carlo Maria Giulini

Carlo Maria Giulini was an Italian conductor.-Biography:Giulini was born in Barletta, Italy, to a father born in Lombardy and a mother born in Naples; but he was raised in Bolzano, which at the time of his birth was part of Austria...

, Bruno Giuranna

Bruno Giuranna

Bruno Giuranna is an Italian violist.According to Giuranna's website:"Bruno Giuranna, born in Milan, completed his musical studies at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome receiving his diploma in violin and viola...

, Franco Gulli, Charles Libove, Erica Morini, André Navarra

André Navarra

André-Nicolas Navarra was a French cellist and cello teacher.-Early life:...

, Ruggiero Ricci

Ruggiero Ricci

Ruggiero Ricci is an Italian-American violinist known for performances and recordings of the works of Paganini. He was born in San Bruno, California. Ricci's brother was cellist and his sister Emma played violin with the New York Metropolitan Opera.He is the son of Italian immigrants. His...

, Leonard Rose

Leonard Rose

Leonard Rose was an American cellist and pedagogue.Rose was born in Washington, D.C., his parents were immigrants from Kiev, Ukraine...

, Toby Saks, Alexander Schneider

Alexander Schneider

Alexander Schneider was a violinist, conductor, and educator. Born in Vilna, Lithuania, he later moved to the United States as a member of the Budapest Quartet.- Biography :...

, Janos Starker

János Starker

János Starker |Kingdom of Hungary]]) is a Hungarian-American cellist. Since 1958 he has taught at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he holds the title of Distinguished Professor.- Child prodigy :...

, Henryk Szeryng

Henryk Szeryng

Henryk Szeryng was a Polish violinist.-Early years:He was born in Żelazowa Wola, Poland on 22 September 1918 into a wealthy family....

and Uto Ughi

Uto Ughi

Diodato "Uto" Ughi is an Italian violinist and conductor. He was the music director of l'Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia from 1992-1997...

were just some of the top musicians who either purchased or had their treasured instruments maintained by him.

His main publication was 'I segreti di Stradivari', translated into many languages and sold worldwide.

"Simone Sacconi is recognized as one of the important contemporary violin makers. His book explains the construction techniques used by Stradivari with clarity and precision. It is considered an indispensable reference for both the professional and novice violin maker." -Eric Blot

"Sacconi was described as a "Hero of the art of violinmaking". -Andrea Mosconi

"Every detail absorbed his complete attention" - Carlos Arcieri

"Described by many expert artisans as an exalted beacon of contemporary restorers and conservators"

"....one of the greatest violin maker/ restorers of our time, Simone Fernando Sacconi." - Wanna Zambelli

Further reading