St. Ludovico Pavoni

Lodovico Pavoni was born in Brescia on 11 September 1794 as the first of five brothers to Alessandro Pavoni and Lelia Poncarali. Pavoni was a bright child and took a keen interest in the world around him while responding to the social problems of his time. He was skilled at painting and hunting and was also good at horseback riding. He received his theological formation at the home of the Dominican Father Carlo Domenico Ferrari – the future Bishop of Brescia – while suffering a stall in his studies due to the Napoleonic era in which the French Emperor closed seminaries. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1807. Pavoni was appointed as an assistant to Bishop Gabrio Nava in 1812 and was named as a church rector on 16 March 1818 – he was assigned to the Church of Saint Barnabas. In 1818 he received permission to found an orphanage and a vocational school that in 1821 would transform into the "Institute of Saint Barnabas". He decided that the first trade of this school would be in the field of book publishing and so in 1823 set up "The Publishing House of Saint Barnabas" – the precursor to the present Ancora press. He opened a center for males and expanded it into a hostel in 1821 for their shelter and to include a school to teach them a particular trade which included programs to instruct them in being carpenters and silversmiths in addition to teaching them how to be blacksmiths shoemakers while focusing also on dye making. He extended this to deaf and mute people in 1823. He also purchased a farm around this time to set up an agricultural section for the school.