Luigi Villa was born in Pesano in 1919. He attended art school and became a sculptor, working in wood. He also began to study violin making on his own while still young. For ten years Villa worked with Pierro Parravicini in Bovisio, one of the most important violin makers of the 20th century, thus continuing the tradition handed down to Parravicini by his teacher, Romeo Antoniazzi. For the rest of his career Luigi Villa operated a violin shop, doing repairs and restorations as well as making fine new instruments.