Giovanni Testa’s Italian parents came to Switzerland around the turn of the century. Later, he ran a wallpaper store in St. Moritz, which still exists as a store for interior decorations. He also added a small inn for the skiers. During the winters, he worked as a skiing instructor and founded the local skiing school in 1929. There, he competed in Alpine and Nordic Skiing. Together with a Munich doctor, he developed a special technique of ski turns which would lead to a reduction in the severe rotational breakages. He obtained Swiss nationality in 1947. From 1967-69 he was a member of the Bündner High Council of the Conservative Christian Social Party. At the time of his death his family also owned real estate and construction companies.
Italy