Domingo Ghirardelli

Ghirardelli apprenticed with a confectioner in Italy, ran a sweet shop in Peru and followed the Gold Rush to California, where he set up as a chocolate maker in San Francisco in 1852. A fire and a bankruptcy along the way did not stop him; his sons expanded the firm, and its former factory on the waterfront is now a landmark. The brand, owned by Lindt since 1998, still sells under his name.