BIOGRAPHY

Lucia Ronda was born in Casalmaggiore, Cremona, Lombardy, Italy on 22 April 1914. As a child, she displayed a talent for art, and attended Scuola Di Disegno G. Bottoli. She then attended the Academy of Fine Arts of Parma, before later being admitted to the Brera Fine Arts Academy, where she studied under the mentorship of sculptor Luciano Minguzzi (1911–2004). During World War II, she was tasked by the Municipality of Casalmaggiore to design maps of the air raid shelters located under the city’s buildings.

In 1950, Ronda was commissioned by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini – who would later become Pope Paul VI – to design one of the five doors of the Milan Cathedral. She also collaborated with the Museo del Bijou in designing costume jewelry, and taught art for many years at middle schools in Parma and Teramo. She continued to live on her own until the age of 95, when a catastrophic fall in her home forced her to move into a nursing home in Marcignago. Despite her advanced age, she continued to draw and paint into her centenarian years. In 2020, she contracted COVID-19 and was hospitalized, before later being released, making her one of Italy’s oldest survivors of the disease.

Lucia Ronda currently lives in a nursing home in Pavia, Milan, Italy.

RECOGNITION

Her age was validated by the ESO on 9 June 2024, before later being recognized by LongeviQuest.

ATTRIBUTION

* “Lucia, cent’anni per la maestra d’arte” Lucia, cent’anni per la maestra d’arte” – La Provincia di Cremona, 20 April 2014

* “Auguri a nonna Lucia, 104 anni di passione per l’arte” – La Provincia Pavese, 27 April 2018

* “Lucia, 107 anni illuminati dall’arte” – La Provincia di Cremona, 22 April 2021

* “Tanti auguri a Lucia Ronda, al traguardo delle 110 candeline” – Oglio Po News, 22 April 2024

* “Per nonna Lucia Clementa Ronda 111 candeline: un vero e proprio record, è la più anziana in Lombardia” – Il Giorno, 22 April 2025

GALLERY