Paolo Kessisoglu (; born 25 July 1969) is an Italian actor, comedian and television presenter. He is best known for the duo Luca e Paolo, formed with his friend, Luca Bizzarri. Kessisoglu was also a member of the comedic group ("Rotten Horses").

Early and personal life

Kessisoglu was born in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

to an

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

family.Luca e Paolo: «Aiuto! Ci avete messo in mezzo»
/ref> His paternal grandfather moved as a child with his family from

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; , or ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, Turkey. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna ...

(today

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

, Turkey) to Greece and later to Italy to escape from the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...

.Anna Maria Giordano, L'ultimo atto di un genocidio è la sua negazione, Rai Radio 3, 2013. The family settled in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

for several years before finally moving to Genoa. The original surname, (), was Turkized during the escape in (with the Armenian ending replaced by the Turkish

patronymic A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (more specifically an avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. It is the male equivalent of a matronymic. Patronymics are used, b ...

ending ) to arouse less attention, and then Hellenized to (). In June 2003, Kessisoglu married TV anchor and journalist Sabrina Donadel with whom he has a daughter, Lunitta (b. 2003).

Filmography

Films

Television

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kessisoglu, Paolo 1969 births Living people Italian male film actors Italian male television actors Italian male voice actors Italian male comedians Italian people of Armenian descent Italian people of Turkish descent Mass media people from Genoa Comedians from Genoa Male actors from Genoa