Difference between revisions of "The Biasini Family"

Acrobats, Circus Owners

The Biasini family forms a large and important Italian circus dynasty that came originally from Isola della Scala, near Verone in the Veneto region. Around 1870, the brothers Luigi, Girolamo, and Fortunato, who had trained in acrobatics, joined the company of the modest equestrian circus of the Anastasini Family. There, Luigi (1851-1933) and Girolamo (?-c.1930) respectively married Sidonia and Antonia Anastasini, the owner's daughters, and together with Fortunato, they created the Circo Biasini Anastasini.

After a fire destroyed their circus, the brothers parted ways. Fortunato married into another circus family, the Polettos. (His descendants will use the name Poletto, which may suggest that Fortunato's union had not been legalized.) Luigi went on to work as a tightwireSee Tight Wire. artist. Girolamo's activities during that time are not documented—however we know that, at some point, he had lost one leg, so his acrobatic career was obviously over. Eventually, Luigi and Girolamo reunited in 1910 to create the Circo Biasini, which would remain active until the Second World War.

A Large Family

Sidonia Anastasini, Luigi's wife passed away in the early 1890s. She and Luigi didn't have any children, and Luigi remarried with Matilde Linda Peradotti (1878-1941), an equestrienneA female equestrian, or horse trainer, horse presenter, or acrobat on horseback. and the daughter of Lodovico Peradotti and Virginia Zamperla—the latter coming from another important Italian circus dynasty. Together, Luigi and Matilde had ten children, Olga (1896-1911), who was killed in a fall from her trapeze when she was fifteen, Angelo (1898-1985), Amelio Emilio (1900-1983), Enrico (1901-1948), Mario (1903-1981), Mariuccia (1907-?), Annita (1909-1976), Virginia Ginevra (1912-1987), Michelina (1915-1982), and Primo Luciano (1918-?).

On their side, Girolamo and Antonia had five children: Natale, Maria, Guglielmo, Luigi, and Elvira (1890-1967), and Fortunato had one descendant, Carlo Poletto (1897-1966). Luigi, Sr.'s descendants specialized for the most part in bicycle acts (notably Angelo and Amelio Emilio and their descendants), and Girolamo's children turned to acrobatics, and later several of them converted to the fairground business. In the 1950-60s, Amelio Emilio and his family toured extensively in Africa with their own circus, Circo Fratelli Biasini.

The family expanded considerably over the generations, and eventually embraced many circus disciplines, from hand balancing to juggling, free ladderUnsupported vertical ladder on which acrobats perform balancing and/or juggling tricks., lion training, etc., and they formed alliances with other great Italian circus dynasties such as the Canestrellis, the Carolis, the Macaggis, and the Bizzarros. In Europe, however, they established their reputation mostly with their bicycle acts.

Suggested Reading

• Alessandra Litta Modignani and Sandra Mantavoni, Il Circo della memoria (Trento, Publistampa Edizioni, 2008) — ISBN 978-88-902506-7-5

See Also

• Video: The Biasinis, bicycle act, on Spanish Television (1987)
• Video: The Biasini Sisters, bicycle act, on Spanish Television (1994)