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Fridolin (II) Hamma

Biographies

John Dilworth Willibald Leo Lütgendorff

John Dilworth

HAMMA, Fridolin (II) Born 1881, died 1969 Stuttgart Germany. Son and successor of Emil Hamma (I), above. Apprenticed to Friedrich Weller in Markneukirchen 1896. Spent three years with Benardel and Caressa & Français in Paris. Returned to Stuttgart 1917. Took over the company with Emil 1928. Renamed Hamma Brothers. working with his brother Emil (II), above. The premises of the firm were bombed during World War II, and many instruments and precious archives were lost, but Fridolin and his son Walter, below, were successful in rebuilding the company after 1945. Fridolin was also responsible for reviving the German Luthier’s Guild, and was for several years its president. Director of the 1937 Stradivari exhibition in Cremona and founder of the International Society of Violin and Bow Makers based in Geneva. Latterly made an honorary Freeman of Cremona. Author of several important works on the violin, including Meisterwerke Italienischer Geigenbaukunst (Stuttgart, 1931) and Meister Deutscher Geigenbaukunst (Stuttgart, 1948). Also published a monograph on the Guarneri del Gesù ‘D’Egville’ violin (Stuttgart, 1961).