Erminio Filippo Pampuri was born on 2 August 1897 in Trivolzio as the tenth of the eleven children to Innocenzo Pampuri and Angela Campari (1856-1900) and he was baptized on 3 August. His mother died in 1900 and he was then taken into the home of Giovanni and Maria Campari who were his maternal uncle and aunt at Torrino which was a village close to his. Later in 1907 his father died in Milan in a traffic accident and he remained in the care of his maternal aunt and maternal grandparents. His sister Maria became a nun (with the new name of "Longina") and she died in Cairo in 1977.