Born in Turin in 1947, I have learnt from an early age to love the sea and animals: with the divorce of my parents, my true guardian angel of the summer holidays at 6 become a fisherman, Angelo, who taught me how to raise longlines, and to recognize fish. I spent whole days in and out of the water and this perhaps explains why today, at 76, my "avatar" is a fish. Studies: Liceo Classico then gaining a Degree in Physics at 24 years old. Work: IBM (13 years, in Turin, Milan then London and Paris at the European Headquarters). I then  returned to Turin with my English wife and children, to follow the family electromechanical business and then continue in other Vacuum and Ultra-High Vacuum Technology companies, always around the world. But the house was and is a country mill.

In parallel, a continuous "return to the sea" whenever possible, to recharge. Collector by nature, the drawers of the house filled with fossils and shells. I always liked to draw, and the first drawings of shells and fish then become watercolors: this passion produced three travel "books" published in '97 (Aldabra), in 2004 (Irian Jaya) and finally Raja Ampat in 2012, all with drawings and text in calligraphic pen, My last 10 years of work were with Varian Vacuum Technologies. In the evening, I studied engraving for three years. In Turin, free time and frequent visits to the Egyptian Museum in Turin stimulated deeper studies in a new field: the result, three years later, was another book of drawings (Animali del Museo Egizio) which is currently in its third reprint in the BookShop of the Museum.

Then, in 2020, the terrible year, the turning point: Covid changed everything and the Carlo Battaglia Foundation was in danger of closing and since then my every effort has been concentrated on how to make it survive. What you see on the web is the result, which I hope will be appreciated. A book that I had started writing in 2012 after the death of my mother, CARLA PANICALI, a Beautiful Friend, found a publisher like Allemandi. People asked me to illustrate some books. Maybe this is the beginning of a Second Life?