Location details
4, Regina Margherita Square, Busca, CN
For visits and information on events,
please visit www.casafrancotto.it.
Ernesto Francotto was born in Busca on 13 December 1883. Orphaned at a very young age, he moved with his mother and brother Edoardo to Turin, where he graduated with honours in medicine. He immediately had the prospect of a brilliant university career, but he soon abandoned his research activities to return to his hometown, where he practised as a general practitioner for over fifty years, demonstrating great professional skills and rare human qualities. He devoted himself to poetry from a young age and kept in touch with Costa, Brofferio and other figures from the Piedmontese literary world. Some of his poems appeared in local and regional periodicals, and his only collection of verses was published in 1965. El nòst cioché (1968) and Il Medico (1972) were published posthumously.
Around the age of forty, he began to take an interest in painting, although he did not join any artistic circles. He left behind a vast body of work, most of which ended up in private collections. He died in Busca on 4 August 1968.
Casa Francotto, an exhibition space run by the Town of Busca.
In 2021, a prestigious partnership was established with the municipality of Cherasco, enabling the galleries of Casa Francotto to host iconic 20th-century artists, including Kandinsky and Miró. As part of its ongoing commitment to promoting the arts, in 2023 it joined the “Abbonamento Musei” scheme.
