Luigi Alberti

Luigi Alberti is Massimo Alberti’s uncle, a Milanese engineer whose austere Christian life and determined generosity are matched by a deep attachment to religious and political tradition. He supports his orphaned nephew, yet their differences over modern religious thought make their bond courteous and strained rather than easy. His effort to aid a charitable institution, and his insistence that inherited property should pass to relatives, expose the competing obligations that govern his conduct.

Identity and Household

Luigi comes from an old middle-class Milanese family and lives in a modest apartment on the third floor of a house on Via S. Spirito. Its old furniture, good paintings, and many books reflect his tastes; it has none of the modern conveniences the narrator lists, including running water, gas, and electric light. Luigi calls himself an antiquarian, content to stand apart from the modern world.

His habits express the same older order. He is humble, indifferent to worldly pleasures, and generous in ways he does not advertise. After his wife’s death, he keeps her memory as a sacred focus of his life. She had been intelligent, gentle, and exemplary in Christian conduct; she had loved him faithfully despite his physical unattractiveness, social awkwardness, and resistance to modernizing their home and habits. They had no children.

Luigi does not bring Massimo into his own household, because he will not change his established way of life or that of his elderly servants. Instead, he gives his nephew three rooms on the floor below, with service from the cook’s wife. He offers Massimo lodging, an allowance, and a place at his table whenever he wants. His support is substantial, but its manner is formal: he feels awkward with his nephew and is gentler than he is warmly familiar. Their distance comes not only from different habits, but from different ideas.

Convictions and Conflict with Massimo

Luigi is a staunch traditionalist in religion, but the narration distinguishes that allegiance from clericalism. In politics, he reads The Perseveranza and follows its electoral guidance, including when ecclesiastical authorities have forbidden participation. He wants priests to remain outside public life and political journalism. In church and sacristy, however, he submits to their authority with complete deference.

This combination makes Massimo’s intellectual and religious work a source of anxiety. Luigi hears that Massimo has studied under Benedetto and that Benedetto is accused of heresy and rebellion. He seeks information from priests rather than raising the issue directly with his nephew. Their reports conflict: some suggest Massimo is turning against Church authority and fundamental Catholic doctrines, while others reassure him. Luigi avoids discussion because he fears being drawn into an argument that would unsettle his simple, affirmative faith. On one occasion he writes to Massimo about his concerns; Massimo’s calm, openly orthodox reply reassures him, though only temporarily.

Luigi is also disappointed that Massimo does not seem intent on making practical use of his medical studies. He hears instead of religious and literary pursuits, lectures on science and faith, and discussions of Christian socialism. He cannot see the purpose of this work and resigns himself to not understanding the younger generation, just as he believes it does not understand him.

The disagreement becomes public after Massimo gives two lectures at the Popular University on sixteenth-century Italian reformers. Massimo argues that if those thinkers had not broken with Church authority, their ideas might have advanced further, to the Church’s benefit. Conservatives are scandalized, while radicals and socialists also attack him, though for opposite reasons. Luigi is disturbed by the controversy and discusses it with Don Santino Ceresola, but does not open the subject directly with Massimo.

Charity and the Student Residence

Luigi’s generosity is not limited to his nephew. Since his wife’s death, he lives on only a small portion of his income; he gives the rest, within limits for Massimo and without limit in principle to people appealing for help, religious institutions, and even a small municipality where he and his wife had spent many summers. His parsimony toward himself coexists with a readiness to give away considerable sums.

Don Santino, a priest devoted to charitable works, hopes to establish a residence for secondary-school students. He has already obtained substantial contributions from Luigi for other purposes and sees the possibility that a breach between uncle and nephew might make Luigi more willing to support the new project. The priest’s zeal can overwhelm those around him: once absorbed by a charitable undertaking, he speaks of little else and expects others to share his urgency and contribute according to their means. He has exhausted his own resources and has sometimes been rebuffed by families who believe he has diverted their money. Luigi, whom Don Santino has repeatedly approached, has until then treated the residence as an unrealistic plan and doubted that the priest could even find money for a site.

The prospect becomes more tangible when Don Santino reports that a woman has given him two thousand square metres of land at Porta Vittoria. He asks Luigi to prepare a preliminary design and estimate. Luigi understands that the request for a sketch may lead to a request for money, and initially resists. Don Santino has also sounded out Bigin, Luigi’s sixty-year-old maid, urging secrecy and suggesting that she help secure a place for the residence in her employer’s will. She cannot promise much: Luigi does not confide in her about his property, and she initially mistakes the proposed institution for a destitute retired employee.

Inheritance and Separation

When Massimo returns from Velo d’Astico, he finds Luigi well and speaking with Don Santino. The priest leaves quickly when the young man appears. After the servants have gone, Luigi raises the visit in a lowered, confidential voice. His manner is unusually affectionate and amused, especially as he recounts how the cook and the cook’s wife distrust Don Santino, fearing that the priest may leave them with nothing. Luigi has deliberately encouraged their suspicion by telling the maid that he might give the priest everything; the thought of unsettling the servants amuses him.

He then states what he actually intends to contribute: his professional work as an engineer, given without charge, and five thousand lire. Don Santino, he says, hopes for much more, but is unrealistic. Luigi adds that he knows his obligations, not only those owed to his servants. Massimo takes the explanation as an attempt to reassure him that the priest’s visit will not displace his inheritance and is irritated by the implication that he might claim such an obligation.

Luigi’s distinction is precise. He believes he can dispose freely of what he earned through his profession, but that property inherited from relatives should go to relatives. He insists that this is a matter of conscience, not affection. When Massimo protests, Luigi ends the conversation and goes to take his customary digestive walk alone, pacing back and forth through four small rooms a total of fifty times. Massimo leaves resolved to quit Milano, support himself, and ensure that Luigi will not regard him as an obstacle to charitable giving. The exchange crystallizes Luigi’s character: his concern for family is real, but it is shaped by duty and inheritance principles, while his charitable commitments remain an independent and forceful claim on his estate.