The Germanic origin of the family, which ancient genealogists claim to have come from Brunswick, is said to be confirmed by the name Todesco or Todeschino recurring in the early generations, as well as by the motto “ALSO-FEST-VOR-GOTT” appearing in ancient frescoes. Modern genealogists agree in tracing the family back to the lords of Airuno, vice-counts of Bergamo, who styled themselves the lords of Brivio.

The recognized progenitor is Ambrogio, owner of lands in Zivico, which Ottone Visconti included in 1277 in the list of the most important Milanese families with the right to admission to the metropolitan canonry. Under Lodovico il Moro, the Brivio family held prominent positions, as they did during the Spanish period. Sforza, son of Dionigi (1530–1612), was a commissioner of the army, ambassador to the pope, and to the Catholic king. Galeazzo became the general of the Umiliati in 1599, and Giovanni Battista was appointed bishop of Cremona in 1610. In 1627, the Brivio family was granted the title of Marquis of Santa Maria in Prato along with the fief by Philip IV of Habsburg.

In 1807, Marquis Cesare (1750–1827) represented the city of Milan in the solemn ceremony of October 14th of that year for the laying of the first stone of the Sempione Arch. His grandson Giacomo (1819–1901) participated in the First War of Independence, enlisting in the Piedmontese army, and in his mature years, was very active in promoting Lombard agriculture and was a member of the Agricultural Society.

A prominent figure in the family history of the 20th century was Marquis Annibale (1892–1988). In 1930, he was appointed by Vittorio Emanuele III as court gentleman to Her Royal Highness, the Princess of Piedmont. After World War II, he was active in the economic and cultural life of Milan and Italy, serving as president of the Banca Lombarda in 1947, of the Lombard Historical Society from 1968, and of the Italian Nobility Corps. In 1917, he married Marianna Trivulzio (1895–1979), and from their union were born: Giacomo, Angelina, Luigi Alberico, Maria Isabella, Giovanni Francesco, and Margherita.

Bibliography
Brivio Sforza Annibale, Notizie storico-genealogiche della famiglia, Editrice Nuovi Autori, Milan 2000.
Calvi Felice, Famiglia notabili milanesi, Vallardi, Milan 1875–1885.

Documentary Fund

This collection gathers documentation produced by the Brivio Sforza family over a long period, from the year 1251 to the end of the 20th century, and is made up of various series, likely reorganized around the last quarter of the 19th century. The continuous numbering of the first 124 folders testifies to the existence of a historical core worked on by archivist Guido Colombo at the end of the 19th century and into the early 20th century, who also created the “Rubrica Archivio Brivio Sforza,” a certified copy of the original that was destroyed in the 1943 air raid. This is the inventory of the first 100 folders of the Brivio Sforza Archive. An additional inventory was made for the next 20 folders (105-124). Two series are also presented in order: Properties, Inheritance, Families, and Property Acts. The series Miscellanea Brivio Sforza contains documents relating to the family collected and organized by Annibale Brivio Sforza. The series Correspondence was formed by gathering folders containing letters written or received by various members of the Brivio Sforza family, organized chronologically.