He was a doctor and philanthropist who is especially remembered because of his last will and testament which permitted the realisation of two of the most important professional schools in Imola: the School of Art and Crafts (today Istituto Tecnico Industriale – Technical Industrial College) and the Agricultural School (today Istituto Agrario – Agricultural College).
His will, influenced by the liberal ideals of the time, was intended to promote a boost for the local economy and an improvement of the poorer classes by developing schools accessible to all.
A statue, by the sculptor Giuseppe Bettelli, of Alberghetti seated and deep in thought is located at the entrance of the Istituto Tecnico Industriale.

He was a famous scholar who at a very young age became fascinated by geology, archaeology, and natural sciences which he cultivated through his academic studies and numerous trips through the Apennine Hills of the Romagna and Marche Regions. His name is most remembered in connection with the publication of an article about the discovery of ancient stone weapons found in Imola and the surrounding areas. Written in 1850, this article is considered the starting point of primitive Italian historical studies, as well as the archaeological excavations of Monte Castellaccio in Imola which permitted the research of primitive and medieval findings.
Still today that is the only village of the bronze age in Italy which was excavated integrally. Thanks to Scarabelli a Natural History Laboratory was created in 1857 from the many private donations of natural and geological collections, among which the precious collection of Cerchiari and the outcome of the studies and research of Scarabelli himself.
These collections are the original core of the present museum Scarabelli.

He was a famous socialist political figure and since a young age was a protagonist of the struggles which eventually brought him in prison and to exile but nevertheless developed his political ideals and extended his contacts far beyond the town of Imola.

He was a charismatic leader, author of a text entitled “Letter to the friends of Romagna”, printed in 1879 where he urged to abandon armed fighting and to start democratic negotiations. In 1882 he won the elections as the first socialist member of the Italian Parliament and in 1889 he became the first socialist leader to head the town council. His remains are in the cemetery of Imola, with a dedication on a plaque by Giovanni Pascoli.

Giuseppina Cattani was a famous doctor and researcher, and it was she who discovered antitetanus serum together with Prof. Guido Tizzoni from the University of Bologna.

She was one of the first women to obtain a degree and become a professor, she also worked at the hospital of Imola from 1897, as coroner. She was deeply involved in social causes and an ardent follower of Andrea Costa. She died in Imola of cancer from  the radiations to which she was exposed to for her research.

She was the daughter of Giovanni Codronchi Argeli, Senator and Minister for Education, which enabled her to attend the most important literary groups of the time. She met such illustrious writers as Carducci and Pascoli, and she herself was a writer – under the pen name of “Sfinge”.

Among her conspicuous writings one must remember her short stories – often describing the area of the Romagna Region – her novels – rather autobiographical and usually set in aristocratic surroundings – and her feminist works, which categorised her among the most significant female writers of the beginning of the 20th century.

He was the son of Pietro, a rather well-known architect of Imola, and grandson of General Mirri, after whom the square, next to the church of St. Maria dei Servi, was named.
Remigio Mirri was a prominent architect, who projected and realised the marbled flooring of the Cathedral of St. Cassiano, and also renovated the square next to the church as well as many private homes in and around Imola. He is also well remembered for the transformation of the ex – convent of the Domenican nuns and which is now the official building that accommodates the Carducci Elementary Schools.

The attractive nursery school “Romeo Galli” in liberty style (inaugurated in 1911 under the name of Giardino d’Infanzia Principe di Napoli) and the construction of the Scuola Industriale “Alberghetti” – the Industrial College, are also his works.

He obtained a degree in law but he had a deep knowledge of classic culture, and he soon began his poetic career. He was greatly inspired by the works of Carducci and Pascoli, from which he acquired an evocative and elegiac tone and the predilection for themes of nature and man’s work, the emphasis on the moral and human values.
Among his numerous works are “Cicalata Romagnola” (1891), highly acclaimed by Carducci, and his later collections “Le Campane di Ortodonico” and “I Salmi della Montagna”.

He was ordained priest in the seminary of Imola. He devoted himself from a young age to educating the poor and the orphans, and he also founded a recreational centre dedicated to Silvio Pellico.

His endless work helping the young and unfortunate – never being discouraged by the economic difficulties – brought him eventually to create, in the area near the Church of St. Caterina – a home for poor students, young workers and orphans. It further developed with the creation of schools and workshops – in other words a craftsmanship orphanage.

A statue and plaque dedicated to Don Bughetti have been placed in front of the chapel were his remains have been laid to rest – next to the church of St. Caterina.

After studying Fine Arts in Bologna, Montevecchi taught in Imola for some time. He never quit the Academy’s rich milieux by attending courses and keeping in contacts with his colleagues for most of his life. Owing to his troubled personal life he had to try his hand at several skills, depending on the clients’ requests, such as painting on ceramics, bas-rilief, interior decoration, poster designing, thus leaving aside portrait painting, in which is excelled thanks to his very elegant but incisive stroke.

Descendent of a noble family of Imola, he began his artistic career at a very young age. He carried on with his personal style until his death.

He led a very sheltered life, and he is best taken into consideration for his paintings where colour and paintbrushes vividly recall the countryside of the Romagna region with refined elegance.

His works have been exhibited at the Biennial of Venice in 1914 and in 1926. There have been many paintings left by the artist in the many churches of Imola.

Since a very young age he expressed his passion for colours and paintbrushes, even though he favoured humble handicrafts.

This strange beginning, along with his family origins – his parents were farmers – are the elements where his main themes can be traced back to – subjects related to the simple tasks of working the fields. Throughout his works the painter praises the sacrifices made by the farmers, the difficulties and hardships they had to face and the dignity and simplicity with which they faced life and how the beauty of nature was their reward.

She was born in Naples, but her family was from the Romagna Region. She obtained her piano and singing diploma in Naples at the San Carlo in 1925.

Her splendid half soprano and contralto voice put her quickly into the spotlight, gathering triumphs in the theatres around the world. She moved to Imola and retired at the age of 55.

As a tribute, on the 20th December 1977, the town council of Imola decided to name the theatre in her honour.

Tonino Gottarelli was born in Imola in 1920. After studying at the high school he graduated in philosophy and published his first novel l’Ideale in 1942. Later, as well as continuing to write novels, he went into painting and held his first personal exhibition in Faenza in 1960. From then on exhibitions and publications alternated frequently.
Poetry, painting, words and colour – these for Gottarelli were the instruments which reveal the natural and human worlds because everything “grows out of language and nothing is real before it is named, before the name probably nothing existed at all”.
Paintings made up of very delicate graphic notes and skilled colour orchestration move from observing nature, filling up our pockets with “leaves and memories” which enables us to reach the very essence of things. Gottarelli died in Imola on the 20th of February 2007.

From the very start in 1946 Andrea Raccagni’s works were the result of a restless and non-conformist personality.

His first paintings were due to the influence of the pre-informal and later rational-geometric and finally surrealist currents; these experiences helped him develop his own personal artistic expression, aimed at exploring – by means of an endless variety of materials – the clash between rationality and irrationality, light and darkness, hence the great enigma of life.