Interview by Silvana Rizzi - Photographs Annalisa Ceccotti

“As always in August,” says Professor Fabrizio Menchini Fabris, widely regarded as the father of Italian andrology, “this year too our family will gather at the villa in Forte.” Fifteen people in total: the family patriarch, his wife Donna Cecilia, their three sons with their wives, and seven grandchildren between the ages of ten and sixteen.

The Menchini Fabris family’s connection to Forte dates back thirty-five years, when Tommaso, Giovanni, and Filippo – then thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen years old – were the perfect age to enjoy summers in Versilia. “For us as well,” recalls Donna Cecilia, “it was a golden period, thanks in part to the company of colleagues from the University of Pisa, who had also fallen in love with Forte.” Before long, the family purchased a villa in Roma Imperiale, complete with a garden, a quiet spot framed by the Apuan Alps.

Born in 1939, Professor Menchini Fabris is a physician, researcher, and pioneer of modern medicine. In the 1970s, he founded Europe’s first university chair in andrology. “At the time,” he recalls, “the Rector told me: ‘If the Americans haven’t done it yet, Italy certainly can’t open one first.’” Passion and expertise, however, shaped an extraordinary career, earning him distinctions such as Grand Officer and Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, Knight of the Constantinian Order of Saint George, and, in 2025, the Medal of Merit for Public Health awarded at the Quirinale by President Sergio Mattarella and the Minister of Health.

A remarkable professional life has unfolded alongside decades of summer seasons spent at the family villa in Forte. Today, eldest son Tommaso is a pharmacist, while his wife Chiara is an executive at the Sant’Anna School in Pisa. Giovanni, a dentist and university lecturer, directs the dental unit of a major healthcare group, where his wife Francesca serves as marketing director. Filippo, following in his father’s path as an andrologist and urologist, is married to gynecologist Maria Silvia.

“The children,” says Giovanni, “can’t wait to arrive in Forte. Here they race around freely on bicycles, spend their days at the beach with new friends, play tennis, and at sunset football by the sea.” Family life revolves around a joyful, lively coexistence, where the atmosphere, climate, and spirit of Forte provide the backdrop for their holidays together. “For us,” Giovanni adds, “it’s a peaceful and relaxing vacation, full of encounters, thanks also to the charm of Forte and to friendships that have accompanied us here for years.” “At the end of every summer,” concludes Donna Cecilia, “my husband and I invite a photographer from Milan to take a portrait of the whole family.” Everyone smiles happily – and perhaps they do so even more because, year after year, Forte gives them the greatest gift of all: a month spent together in happiness. Until next summer!