Claudio Alcorso was born into an affluent middle-class family and developed an early interest in humanities subjects, including history, the arts, literature and languages. He received a Bachelor of Economics at the University of Rome, and a degree in Marketing from the Harvard School of Business Administration. He became an exile by choice after his experience as a pilot in the Spanish Civil War and the Fascist regime's policies in Italy. Alcorso studied at the London School of Economics and from there he migrated to Australia.
For three years during WWII Alcorso was interned as an enemy alien. Employed in the textile industry, most notably as a Managing Director at Silk and Textiles Ltd, he was a pioneer in industrial design, enterprise development and the establishment of the wine industry in Tasmania. He was a member of the Tasmanian Writers' Union, a patron of the Arts, a Director of the Australian Ballet, an environmentalist and the founding chairperson of the Australian Opera. He conceived and created the Artist's Collection and was a board member of the Elizabethan Trust for 14 years. Alcorso served on several boards at the University of Tasmania and the Claudio Alcorso Scholarship bears his name. In 1995 he received an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of Tasmania.
The Claudio Alcorso Foundation, launched on 7th October 2001, seeks to continue the ideals and values Alcorso represented by the establishment of scholarships and international exchanges in the arts, awards and events serving to promote public awareness in music, fine arts and crafts, architecture, civic planning and environmental sciences.
