Ugo was – and still is – a man of many talents, and a perfectionist. He made most of the furniture for the house, as well as cots for newborn babies at the hospital. He drew accurate copies of cartoon characters to decorate his own children’s room. And he took photos. Hundreds of them, which he developed and printed himself, so we are extremely lucky to have a visual treasure of this period, with every photo dated and neatly labelled.

One striking photo shows a saucepan, which was his sterilizer. Another shows half a dozen scalpels and pairs of scissors – his entire medical kit. A favourite photo, taken by Maria, shows him holding a newborn baby up to his ear to check the heartbeat.

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