Following a question from Jean-Félix Gandioli of the Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle de Nice about Cima Pollini (photo, right) and Pollini’s relationship with Clarence Bicknell, I researched the subject in MARVELS – The Life of Clarence Bicknell by Valerie Lester 2018 and brought forward all the references to Pollini there.
You can download these excerpts (in Valerie’s original English et en français) about the Pollini family here…
Yes indeed, Pollini was the right hand man of Clarence Bicknell. In fact both father Giacomo and son Luigi (left in 1912) were essential to Bicknell’s household, work in the mountains, travels and circle of friends. Luigi Pollini, the son, was only 5 years old when Clarence first met him but he became the most important single man in Clarence’s life; it was Luigi who poured out his heart in his epitaph for Clarence written in the Casa Fontanalba Visitors’Book.
It is not known who attributed the name Pollini to the Cima Pollini, next to the Cima Bicknell above the Val Fontanalbe in the Massif de Mercantour. In the seven years of research by Valerie Lester, Susie and Marcus Bicknell, no record was found of the naming of this mountain. Cima Bicknell was mentioned in CAI journal (Italian Alpine Club) and Fritz Mader was the source, but we could not find Cima Pollini.
