Lugano

The toponym is first recorded in 804 AD, in the form Luanasco, in 874 as Luano, and from 1189 as Lugano. Traditional German-language variants of the name (now virtually unused) are , Lauis, Lauwis, Louwerz. The local Lombard form of the name is rendered . The etymology of the name is uncertain, suggestions include derivation from Latin ("grove"), from a Vulgar Latin *lakvannus ("lake-dweller") and from the god Lugus. In Romansch, especially in traditional Sursilvan dialect, the city is known as Ligiaun. ==History==

Pre-history The shores of Lake Lugano have been inhabited since the Stone Age. Within the modern city limits (Breganzona, Castagnola, Davesco and Gandria) several ground stones or quern-stones have been found. In the area surrounding Lugano, items from the Copper Age and the Iron Age have been found. There are Etruscan monuments at Davesco-Soragno (5th to 2nd century BC), Pregassona (3rd to 2nd century BC), and Viganello (3rd to 2nd century BC). Graves with jewellery and household items have been found in Aldesago, Davesco, Pazzallo and Pregassona along with Celtic money in Viganello. The region around Lake Lugano was settled by the Romans by the 1st century BC. There was an important Roman town north of Lugano at Bioggio. During the fighting between Guelphs and Ghibellines and the new disputes between Como and Milan, during the 14th and 15th centuries, Lugano was the scene of clashes between opposing forces. After a long rule by the Rusca family, Lugano was freed from the domination of Como, which had been taken over in 1335 from the Visconti. At the same time, the link between the town and the valley strengthened. By 1405–06 documents attest to a vallis comunitas Lugani et, a governing body that was independent of Como. The new community included the parishes of Lugano, Agno, Riva San Vitale and Capriasca. In 1416 the Duke of Milan, Filippo Maria Visconti, conquered the region of Lugano and the Rusca valley and made it a fief. A year later, Lugano's freedoms were first documented in a series of statutes modelled on those of Como. The town was able to secure complete independence. A key member of this family was (1624–1706), who served as Lugano's chancellor and general captain, serving also Spain, and receiving the title of Baron from Leopold I in 1691. He commissioned the construction of Palazzo Beroldingen, on the site of the current , and , in Castagnola. Lugano during the Enlightenment File:Zentralbibliothek Zürich - Lugano Bailliage en Italie appartenant aux Suisses - 991035412299705501.jpg|View after 1714 File:Thomas Smith - Town and Lake of Lugano - B1975.4.1745 - Yale Center for British Art.jpg|View in the mid-18th century File:CH-NB - Grafiken Orts- und Landschaftsansichten - GS-GRAF-ANSI-TI-69.tif|View in 1790 File:Henri Rollan Lancelot - Lago de Lugano.jpg|View in the late 18th century In 1746, the Agnelli brothers opened the first printing press and bookshop in Lugano. They began publishing the newspaper Nuove di diverse corti e paesi in 1748 and changed its name to Gazzetta di Lugano in 1797. The newspaper was widely read in north and central Italy. It supported the cause of the later Jansenists against the Jesuits and therefore was banned in 1768 in the territory of the Papal States. It was open to the themes of enlightened reform and the American Revolutionary War. It was the first newspaper in the Italian language to publish an excerpt from the Declaration of Independence of 1776. After the death of Abbot Gian Battista Agnelli in 1788, who had been the editor for more than 40 years, Abbot Giuseppe Lodovico Maria Vanelli took over the paper. Under Abbot Vanelli, it supported the revolutionary ideas from France, which drew protests from the Austrian government in Lombardy. The publication of the magazine ceased abruptly after edition number 17 of 29 April 1799, following the anti-French riots in Lugano during which the Agnelli printing house was sacked and Abbot Vanelli was shot. Swiss control lasted until 1798 when Napoleon conquered the Old Swiss Confederation and created the Helvetic Republic, within which Lugano became the capital of the Canton of Lugano. Canton of Lugano The canton of Lugano unified the former Landvogteien of Lugano, Mendrisio, Locarno and Valmaggia. However, as with the other cantons of the Helvetic Republic, the autonomy of Lugano was very limited, the republic having been founded by Napoleon in order further to centralise power in Switzerland. The canton was led by a Directory of five members, who appointed a "national préfet". The canton was deeply divided between "patriots" supporting the Cisalpine Republic, and traditionalist "aristocrats". By 1799 riots broke out in Lugano, and the second préfet, Francesco Capra, fled the town. Power passed to a provisional government sympathetic to the Habsburgs. However, French occupation was restored in 1800. In 2013 the municipalities of Bogno, Cadro, Carona, Certara, Cimadera, Sonvico and Val Colla were incorporated into the municipality. Postwar Lugano File:Lugano Banca del Gottardo.jpg|Banca del Gottardo designed by Mario Botta in the 1980s File:ETH-BIB LBS SR05-090023-33 Edificio Ransila I Lugano 1990.jpg|Edificio Ransila I designed by Mario Botta Following the Second World War, and particularly during the 1960s and 70s, thanks to an abundant flow of capital from nearby Italy, with over 100 banking institutions present in the city. Trade, tourism and finance are the mainstays of the local economy. In 2000, nine-tenths of the workers were employed in the services sector, of which three-quarters were commuters, including many cross-border commuters (13% of the working population). Lugano was the host city of the 1956 Eurovision Song Contest, the first-ever edition of the contest. In 1975, the Congress Center was built followed in 1978 by the new City Hospital. In 1963 the city acquired the land for the airfield Lugano-Agno, and the first scheduled flights was in 1980. At the beginning of the 21st century they began the Grande Lugano projects, including: the car tunnel Vedeggio-Cassarate, which started in 2005 and connects the A2 motorway with the neighbourhood of Cornaredo, the creation of a new Kulturpol on the site of the former Grand Hôtel Palace and a convention and exhibition centre in the area of Campo Marzio. ==Geography and climate==

Topography The municipality Lugano lies at the edge of Lake Lugano ( or ), which is situated between the lakes Lago Maggiore and Lago di Como, south of the Alps. It lies at the heart of the Sottoceneri, that part of the canton of Ticino that lies south of the Monte Ceneri Pass. The city centre is located on the lake shore just to the west of where the river Cassarate enters the lake. The city's waterfront forms a crescent around the bay between the Brè () and the San Salvatore () mountains. Climate Lugano is amongst the warmest places in Switzerland, along with Locarno and Grono. Lugano has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cfa) due to the warmer average being above 22 °C (71.6 °F). The vegetation is from the subtropics with deciduous forest. It is characterized by relatively mild winters and warm humid summers. It has an average of 98.1 days of rain or snow per year and on average receives of precipitation. The wettest month is May during which Lugano receives an average of of rain, while the driest month of the year is February with an average of of precipitation over 4.6 days. The heaviest rainfall tends to occur just before and just after the summer months. January typically has around 27 to 28 nights below freezing, though severe cold is rare and does not occur every year. Much of the summer is pleasant, but warm days above 30 °C (86 °F) are not uncommon (average of about 8 days). It usually snows every winter, but often a single snowfall doesn't leave more than 50 cm on the ground. Heavier snowfalls or blizzards are possible but not very common. KNMI }} ==Politics==

Coat of arms The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Gules, a cross throughout argent, between the upper case serif letters L, V, G and A (respectively in the I, II, III and IV quarters). The coat of arms dates from around 1200. The four letters on the coat of arms are an abbreviation of the name Lugano. Neighborhoods and circles The municipality is subdivided into 25 quartieri (neighborhoods) which are grouped into three (cantonal) circles. Quarters 1–9 are the older quarters of the city, which have been added to by successive enlargements of the municipality in 2004, 2008 and 2013; these enlargements involved previously independent municipalities becoming parts of the municipality. Elections Cantonal In the Grand Council of Ticino election, there were a total of 27,557 registered voters in Lugano, of which 15,214 or 55.2% voted. 237 blank ballots and 38 null ballots were cast, leaving 14,939 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the PLR which received 3,680 or 24.6% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the Lega (with 2,854 or 19.1%), the SSI (with 2,532 or 16.9%) and the PS (with 2,170 or 14.5%). In the Council of State of Ticino election, 158 blank ballots and 79 null ballots were cast, leaving 14,980 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the Lega which received 3,839 or 25.6% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the PLR (with 3,596 or 24.0%), the PS (with 2,496 or 16.7%) and the SSI (with 2,169 or 14.5%). In the federal election a total of 15,639 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 46.6%. In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the PLR which received 26.6% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the Lega (19%), the PPD (18.71%) and the PS (17.46%). In the federal election, a total of 11,980 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 42.8%. ==Demographics==

Since its union with some surrounding municipalities in 2004 (Breganzona, Cureggia, Davesco-Soragno, Gandria, Pambio-Noranco, Pazzallo, Pregassona and Viganello), 2008 (Barbengo, Carabbia and Villa Luganese) and 2013 (Bogno, Cadro, Carona, Certara, Cimadera, Sonvico and Val Colla), Lugano has a population () of and is, therefore, the canton's largest city. The expansion in 2004 was the second major expansion after the union in 1972 with the municipalities of Brè-Aldesago and Castagnola. , 38.1% of the population do not hold Swiss citizenship and 14,778 or 23.2% of the population was born in Italy. In 2013, among the Swiss population (61.6%, 41,392), 24.3% (16,349) are Luganesi, 21.7% (14,585) from anywhere else in the canton of Ticino, and 15.6% (10,458) from other cantons in Switzerland. The city's economy provides an estimated 38,000 jobs, With regards to intercommunal financial equalisation, thanks to its financial strength Lugano contributes significantly to the equalisation fund. Between 1997 and 2007, the population changed at a rate of 6.9%. Most of the population () speaks Italian (80.3%), with German being second most common (7.1%) and Serbo-Croatian being third (2.7%). Of the Swiss national languages (), 20,998 people speak Italian, 1,855 speak German, 597 people speak French, and 39 people speak Romansh. The remainder (3,071 people) speak another language. , the gender distribution of the population was 47.1% male and 52.9% female. The population was made up of 15,457 Swiss men (28.1% of the population), and 10,461 (19.0%) non-Swiss men. There were 19,417 Swiss women (35.3%), and 9,725 (17.7%) non-Swiss women. The age distribution, , in Lugano is; 4,666 children or 8.5% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 5,013 teenagers or 9.1% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 6,270 people or 11.4% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 8,267 people or 15.0% are between 30 and 39, 9,113 people or 16.6% are between 40 and 49, and 6,844 people or 12.4% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 6,459 people or 11.7% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 4,947 people or 9.0% are between 70 and 79, and there are 3,481 people or 6.3% who are over 80. the average number of residents per living room was 0.61 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.6 per room. In this case, a room is defined as space of a housing unit of at least as normal bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens and habitable cellars and attics. About 19.1% of the total households were owner occupied, or in other words, did not pay rent (though they may have a mortgage or a rent-to-own agreement). , there were 23,168 private households in the municipality and an average of 2 persons per household. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.64%. there were 16,333 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was the 3 room apartment of which there were 5,398. There were 1,811 single-room apartments and 2,019 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 13,342 apartments (81.7% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 2,485 apartments (15.2%) were seasonally occupied and 506 apartments (3.1%) were empty. Historic population The population of the original town of Lugano (not including the municipalities added after 1972) is given in this chart: Of the working population, 15.2% used public transportation to get to work, and 44.6% used a private car. The airline Darwin Airline, operating under the brand name Etihad Regional since January 2014, has its head office on the grounds of Lugano Airport in Agno, near Lugano. ==Tourism==

Lugano is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Switzerland. The city is home to a number of historic buildings and museums, whilst the surrounding area has many natural sights. Both Lake Lugano and the surrounding mountains provide a wide variety of outdoor activities. The area surrounding Lugano is home to over of mountain biking trails, the largest net of trails in Switzerland. Heritage sites of national significance 17 sites in Lugano are part of the Swiss heritage site of national significance. The city of Lugano, the districts of Barbengo, Brè, Gandria and Biogno, and the sites of Cantine di Gandria and Castagnola are all part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites. The heritage sites of national significance include two libraries, the Biblioteca Cantonale and the Biblioteca Salita dei Frati as well as the Swiss National Recording Archives (Fonoteca nazionale svizzera). There were three churches; Cathedral of San Lorenzo, Church of Santa Maria degli Angioli and the Church of San Rocco. There were four museums; the , , the and the Villa Ciani complex with the Museo civico. In 2015, the two art museums in the city merged to form MASI Lugano. The cemetery complex at via Trevano is also one of the sites, as is the Radiotelevisione svizzera di lingua italiana (RTSI) Italian-language broadcast facility. The rest of the sites are houses throughout the town. They include the Palazzo civico at piazza della Riforma, the Palazzo e cinema Corso at via Pioda, the Palazzo Riva at via Francesco Soave, the Palazzo Riva at via Massimiliano Magatti, the Palazzo Riva at via Pretorio 7 and Villa Favorita in Castagnola. File:Lugano Cattedrale di San Lorenzo Interno Coro 1.jpg | Cathedral of San Lorenzo File:Santa Maria degli Angioli.jpg | Church of Santa Maria degli Angioli File:Lugano San Rocco.JPG | Church of San Rocco File:Mairie de Lugano (10855973443).jpg|Palazzo Civico or City Hall File:Antonio Ciseri - Bozzetto per l'Ecce Homo.jpg|Sketch of Ecce Homo from MASI Lugano File:Lugano - Biblioteca cantonale.jpg|Biblioteca Cantonale File:Villa Favorita Lugano 03.JPG|Villa Favorita in Castagnola Natural sights A very popular destination in Lugano is Lake Lugano. The lake is in size, 63% of which is in Switzerland and 37% in Italy. It has an average width of roughly and is nearly at its widest. The maximum depth of the lake is . The water is generally warm with average water temperatures in the summer ranging from to . Several companies provide tourist boat services on the lake. A popular excursion is by boat to the picturesque lakeside village of Gandria. Additionally, there are numerous shipyards, water taxis and boat rental sites along the lake, as well as hotels and restaurants that offer moorings. Bathing in the lake is allowed at any of the 50 or so bathing establishments located along the Swiss shores. In addition to the lake, Lugano is surrounded by mountains, which provide a number of opportunities for sports or sightseeing. Two mountains, both providing excellent views over the city and lake, bracket each end of the town's waterfront. Monte Brè (), to the north, is reputedly Switzerland's sunniest spot and is also home to the old village of Brè. Monte San Salvatore (), to the south, has an old church and museum atop its summit. Both mountains are accessible by funicular railways, which are themselves easily accessible by frequent city bus or by car. Slightly further afield is Monte Generoso (), with a view that encompasses the lakes of Lugano, Como and Maggiore, as well as the Alps from the Matterhorn to the Bernina Range, the Lombardy Plains, and, on a clear day, the city of Milan. The summit can be reached by taking either an SNL boat, or a railway train, to Capolago, and changing there onto a rack railway train of the Monte Generoso Railway. Religious buildings • St. Lawrence Cathedral (9th and 15th century) • (16th century) with the fresco of the Christ's Passion from Bernardino Luini • • Sant'Antonio Abate Secular buildings • • • • Museums • MASI Lugano (or Swiss–Italian Art Museum), on three sites: • Lugano Arte e Cultura (LAC), a cultural centre dedicated to visual arts, music and performing arts • Palazzo Reali • Giancarlo and Danna Olgiati Collection • Museo delle Culture (Museum of Cultures) • Foundation Aligi Sassu and • Historical Museum • • Swiss Customs Museum • Wilhelm Schmid Museum • Hermann Hesse Museum • Swiss National Sound Archives ==Education and research==

In Lugano about 63.7% of the population (between age 25–64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a University of Applied Sciences). There were 492 vocational students who were attending school full-time and 722 who attend part-time. The professional program lasts three years and prepares a student for a job in engineering, nursing, computer science, business, tourism and similar fields. There were 89 students in the professional program. , there were 3,537 students in Lugano who came from another municipality, while 887 residents attended schools outside the municipality. The headquarter of the university in Lugano includes 5 of its 6 faculties, the Academy of Architecture being based in Mendrisio. The main building, built in 1909, was originally the hospital of Lugano and since 1996 it is home of the university. In the next years, several added buildings enriched the headquarter until the other side of the river, in the quarter called Viganello. In fact, the area of the older buildings on the west side of the river is called "West Campus" (or "Campus Ovest" in Italian), whereas the newest building (active since 2021) on the other side of the river is called "East Campus" (or "Campus Est" in Italian) and it houses both the university USI and the University of Applied Sciences of Southern Switzerland SUPSI. Some of the universities and colleges in Lugano include: • Università della Svizzera Italiana (USI): This Swiss university, translated as "University of Italian Switzerland", which is organised in 6 faculties: the Faculty of Informatics, Faculty of Economics, Faculty of Communication, Culture and Society, Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Theology and the Academy of Architecture (which is based in Mendrisio). • Swiss National Supercomputing Centre: an autonomous unit of ETH Zürich that focuses on high-performance computing. • Dalle Molle Institute for Artificial Intelligence (IDSIA): a non-profit oriented research institute for artificial intelligence, affiliated with both the Università della Svizzera Italiana and SUPSI. • Franklin University Switzerland: an American and Swiss accredited liberal arts college. • The American School In Switzerland: an international secondary school. • SUPSI: University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland. ==Transport==

Air Lugano is served by Lugano Airport, in the nearby municipality of Agno. Currently, only Silver Air operates to Lugano Airport. While there is limited service to Lugano's airport, Milan's airports are not that far away and provide access to a greater number of worldwide locations. Milan Malpensa Airport is connected to Lugano by a direct hourly train with a travel time of 1:45h from/to Lugano, or about one hour, 80 km by road. Railways Lugano's railway station is situated on the historically and concurrently important Gotthard railway line, which links northern Switzerland with Ticino and Italy. Since the inauguration of the Gotthard Base Tunnel, in 2016, and the Ceneri Base Tunnel, in 2020, train connections with cities in Northern Switzerland, such as Zürich, Lucerne and Basel, have been improved, with significantly faster services through the base tunnels. Long-distance trains of the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS), together with international trains of Trenitalia, connect Lugano with the cities of northern Switzerland and with Italy. The trains operate under the InterCity and EuroCity brands. Service is provided hourly to Zürich and once every two hours to Basel and Milan. One train per day operates to each of Bologna, Genoa and Venice. All the above trains operate via the Gotthard and Ceneri base tunnels. Between April and mid October, the tourist oriented Gotthard Panorama Express connects Lugano with Lucerne once a day by train and boat, travelling by train over the historic high-level Gotthard route, and then by boat along the length of Lake Lucerne. Lugano is also served by several lines of regional trains of the Treni Regionali Ticino Lombardia (TILO) network which operates in the canton of Ticino and the north of the Italian region of Lombardy. Line RE80 provides a half-hourly semi-fast service northbound to Locarno and southbound to Mendrisio and Chiasso, with alternate southbound trains continuing to Milan. Line S10 provides a half-hourly all-stations service northbound to Bellinzona and Biasca and southbound to Mendrisio and Chiasso, with alternate southbound trains continuing to Como and occasional northbound trains continuing to Airolo. Line S50 provides an hourly service to Milan Malpensa Airport, running coupled to an S10 service between Biasca and Mendrisio. All the above trains use the Ceneri Base Tunnel, but line S90 provides a half-hourly service north to Giubiasco and an hourly service south to Mendrisio serving all the stations over the old high-level Ceneri route. Longer distance buses, as well as some local buses, are operated by PostBus Switzerland, known locally as the AutoPostale. Its Palm Express service connects Lugano railway station to St. Moritz. Other AutoPostale buses operate from an underground bus station and ticket office, located at Via Balestra 4 in the centre of Lugano. ASF Autolinee, an Italian bus company, operates an international bus route from Lugano to Menaggio, on the shores of Lake Como. Shipping Boats of the Società Navigazione del Lago di Lugano (SNL) provide services on Lake Lugano. Whilst these are principally provided for tourist purposes, they also connect Lugano with other lakeside communities. Several of the landing points are within the sparsely populated section of the municipality that lies on the east side of the lake and have no road access. ==Culture==

(LAC) Lugano hosts the Swiss National Sound Archives, responsible for safeguarding the sound heritage of Switzerland. The Palazzo dei Congressi is the performing arts centre for Lugano. It is the main venue for the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana. The Lugano Festival runs during April and May, followed by the related "Progetto Martha Argerich" in June. Estival Jazz arrives in July. Between July and August, there is the LongLake Festival, one of the greatest urban open-air happenings in Switzerland. During one month, the LongLake offers over 300 events in downtown Lugano. The Blues-to-Bop Festival arrives in late August and early September turns the town into a hive of activity as thousands crowd the streets and piazzas for free open-air concerts. In 1956, the Teatro Kursaal in Lugano hosted the first Eurovision Song Contest. The MASI (Museo d'Arte della Svizzera italiana) has two parallel objectives: the conservation and study of the Museum's permanent collection, which is above all made up of works belonging to the 19th and 20th centuries; and the planning and presentation of temporary exhibitions. It focuses on the art of the cantons of Ticino and Graubünden (Grigioni in Italian) and presents artists from the region on a regular basis. Lugano Arte e Cultura (LAC) is a cultural centre dedicated to music, visual and performance arts. It opened in 2015. The district of Brè-Aldesago offers its visitors charming corners created by its characteristic stone buildings. The cobblestone streets of the town offer art enthusiasts an artistic path that is very interesting both because of the presence of national and international "names" and the combination of art and the environment. ==Sports==

playing against HC Ambrì-Piotta at the Resega Hockey Club Lugano (HCL) plays in the National League (NL), the top tier of Swiss hockey and is by far the town's number one team. They play at the Cornèr Arena and have won seven national titles, having participated twice in the European Cup final round and once in the top four final in the Euroleague. In 1991, Lugano reached the final of the Spengler Cup and twice reached third place in the IIHF Continental Cup Superfinal. FC Lugano plays in the Swiss Super League. They play at the Stadio Cornaredo and won the Swiss title in 1938, 1941 and 1949 and the Swiss Cup in 1931, 1968, 1993 and 2022. The Stadio Cornaredo currently sits 4,800 people. It hosted the Italy-Belgium match at the 1954 FIFA World Cup. According to some sources, Lugano is the smallest city ever to hold a World Cup match. Around the soccer field there is a gravel lane used during athletic contests and that, outside of official match and training hours, can be used by joggers free of charge. Next to the stadium are three small training fields. There are also two artificial grass fields: one for field hockey and one for soccer. There is also a skate park next to the stadium. BC Lugano Tigers (former Basket Club Lugano) plays in the Swiss National League A (LNA). They play at the Elvetico gym, won the Swiss Cup in 2011 and have been Swiss LNA Champions in 2000, 2001, 2006 and 2010. Lugano annually hosts the racewalk Gran Premio Città di Lugano Memorial Albisetti and the Ladies Open Lugano, an International level WTA tennis tournament. The city hosted the 1953 and 1996 UCI Road World Championships, as well as the 18th Chess Olympiad. Lugano has traditionally been one of Switzerland's hubs in Water polo. The Società Nuoto Lugano won the Swiss Championship a total of 17 times. ==People==

People born in Lugano ; Middle Ages • Giovanni Battista Trevano (c.1560–1644), Italian-speaking architect who worked in Poland as a royal architect • Francesco Contin (1585–1654), Swiss-Italian sculptor and architect • Giovanni Battista Discepoli (1590–1660), Swiss-Italian painter of the Baroque period • Gasparo Molo (15??-16??), goldsmith • Karl Konrad von Beroldingen (1624–1706), Lugano's chancellor and general captain • Carlo Giuseppe Plura (1663–1737), Swiss-Italian stucco artist and sculptor • Giovanni Maria Fontana (c.1670–after 1712), Italian-Swiss architect, worked in Russia • Giacomo Zanetti (c.1696–1735), Italian master builder and architect • Domenico Reina (1796–1843), Swiss bel canto opera tenor and composer ; 19th C • Carlo Bossoli (1815–1884), Swiss-born Italian painter and lithographer of scenes from the Risorgimento • Domenico Giambonini (1868–1956), Swiss sport shooter, bronze medallist in the 1920 Summer Olympics ; 20th C • Leonardo Conti MD (1900–1945), Reich Health Leader in Nazi Germany • Romano Amerio (1905–1997), Catholic theologian • Niccolò Tucci (1908–1999), short story writer and novelist who wrote in English and Italian • Hans Zellweger (1909–1990), Paediatrician and clinical geneticist who described Zellweger syndrome • Lauro Amadò (1912–1971), also known as Lajo, Swiss football player, played 54 games for the Swiss national football team • Mario Agliati (1922–2011), Swiss-Italian journalist, writer and historian • Mario Comensoli (1922–1993), Swiss painter of the realist movement • Sergio Mantegazza (1927–2024), Swiss-Italian businessman, chairman and owner of Globus a multinational travel company. • Duilio Arigoni (1928–2020), Swiss chemist, worked on the biosynthetic pathways of many organic natural substances • Tito Tettamanti (born 1930), Swiss lawyer, politician, and entrepreneur • Giulia Daneo Lorimer (1932–2021), Italian violinist and singer • Pietro Balestra (1935–2005), Swiss economist specializing in econometrics • Franco Ambrosetti (born 1941), jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist and composer • Christian Giordano (born 1945), Swiss anthropologist and sociologist • Giorgio Giudici (born 1945), Swiss architect and politician, Mayor of Lugano 1984–2013 • Romolo Nottaris (born 1946), Swiss rock climber, mountaineer and author of documentary films • Chiara Banchini (born 1946), Swiss Baroque violinist • Loris Kessel (1950–2010), Swiss racing driver • Georg Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza (born 1950), manager • Luca Pianca (born 1958), Swiss musician-lutenist whose specialty is archlute • Diego Fasolis (born 1958), Swiss classical organist and conductor • Marco Borradori (1959–2021), Swiss lawyer and politician, Mayor of Lugano 2013–2021 • Mauro Gianetti (born 1964), Swiss directeur sportif, former professional rider • Gianluca Barilari (born 1964), head coach of the Swiss national basketball team • Carlo Bonzanigo (born 1966), Italian and Swiss car designer, works for Pininfarina and for Citroen Design. • Hardy Krüger junior (born 1968), German actor • Antonio Esposito (born 1972), Swiss-Italian former footballer, 320 games • Christian Rebecchi (born 1980), Swiss painter and sculptor of the NEVERCREW artists duo • Joël Camathias (born 1981), Swiss racing driver • Alberto Regazzoni (born 1983), footballer, with over 440 games and 3 for the national side • Elly Schlein (born 1985), Italian politician • Stefano Comini (born 1990), Swiss racing driver • Alex Fontana (born 1992), Swiss racing driver People who lived or died in Lugano ; 19th C • Mikhail Bakunin (1814–1876), Russian revolutionary anarchist and founder of collectivist anarchism • Enrico Bignami (1844–1921), Italian merchant and editor of La Plebe, a socialist newspaper • Ferdinando Fontana (1850–1919), Italian journalist, dramatist, poet and committed, passionate socialist • Hans Kundt (1869–1939), German military officer, the primary military figure of Bolivia • Heinrich Thyssen (1875–1947), German-Hungarian entrepreneur and art collector • Hermann Hesse (1877–1962), author and philosopher, won the Nobel Prize in 1946 • Jurgis Šaulys (1879–1948), Lithuanian economist, diplomat and politician; one of the twenty signatories to the 1918 Act of Independence of Lithuania • Wilhelm Backhaus (1884–1969), German pianist and pedagogue • Alfred Neumann (1895–1952), German writer of novels, stories, poems, plays and films ; 20th C • Rudolf Caracciola (1901–1959), German racing driver • Gustav Fröhlich (1902–1987), German actor and film director • Ernst Marlier (1875–1948), German pharmaceutical manufacturer who built the Wannsee Villa, the venue of the Wannsee Conference • Rainis (1865–1929), Latvian poet, playwright, translator, and politician • Aspazija (1865–1943), Latvian poet and playwright • Mariuccia Medici (1910–2012), Italian-born Swiss actress on TV and in the theatre • Caterina Valente (1931–2024), Italian-French, multilingual singer, guitarist, dancer, and actress • Mina (born 1940) (Anna Maria Mazzini), Italian singer • Steve Reid (1944–2010), American jazz drummer and session drummer for Motown • Robert Palmer (1949–2003), English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer • Behgjet Pacolli (born 1951), former President of Kosovo, a businessman with Mabetex Group • Ivo Pogorelić (born 1958), Croatian pianist • Johann Sebastian Paetsch (born 1964), American cellist and musician • Anna Kravtchenko (born 1976), Ukrainian classical pianist with an international career • Alberto Contador (born 1982), Spanish professional cyclist, winner of the Tour de France, Vuelta a España and Giro d'Italia • Nicole Cooke MBE (born 1983), Welsh former professional road bicycle racer, Commonwealth, Olympic and World road race champion ==Twin towns==

• Podgorica, Montenegro • Hegyvidék, Hungary ==See also==