Civitate, Francisco

He was born in Italy in 1882 and died in Brazil in 1987. Around 1902, at the age of twenty, he arrived in Montevideo with a strong passion for photography. He brought his camera, a sturdy tripod, black velvet cloth, and several glass plates from his native country. He dedicated himself to photography for almost eighty years (1902-1982). He worked for a while at the Dolce photography studio on Sarandí Street, but various issues led him to establish his own business. In late 1909, he set up his studio at 299 Avenida 18 de Julio, under the name Fotografía Arte Moderno. By the age of twenty-seven, he was already an accomplished professional, whose artistic prestige and social contacts through his wife's family, Renée Condom Jonhson, opened doors to the fashionable circles of the time. He had already won international awards in the category of portrait photography, including a gold medal in Turin and a grand prize in Rome. His studio underwent several name changes, from Arte Moderno to Fotografía Civitate or simply Civitate. Among the resources he used to promote his photography studio were tours of the interior, art exhibitions, and the publication of a children's album. The veteran photographer remained active until the age of ninety-six, still collaborating in the retouching of negatives, until a heart attack confined him to the tranquility of his home. In 1981, at the age of ninety-nine, he agreed to move to Curitiba, where his eldest son Carlos, who had achieved success as a photographer in Brazil, was living.