His mother was a hat designer. Her father had worked for the Société des Bains de Mer (the casino operator) in Monte Carlo, a popular resort for the British, and so she spoke English and became an anglophile, with a particular love of English literature. Thus her employer, Claude Saint-Cyr of Paris, sent her to run her in London. She would send her Swiss schoolboy son the English music paper "Melody Maker" on a weekly basis, from which Giorgio learned English and also became familiar with the British jazz scene.