He was born in Milan in 1948. He graduated in Humanities in 1971 at the University of Milan and he started immediately to teach in a secondary school (1972-1976). In 1976, he became State Archivist for the Archival Superintendence Office in Lombardy where he worked until 1979 when he became Director of the State Archives in Savona (1979-1990) and in Imperia (1979-1980). In 1990, he stopped working for the Department of Cultural Assets as he won the competition for the post of university researcher for the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Genoa where he was confirmed in 1993. In 1994, he was given the post of professor of Archivist at the University of Milan where, since 1st January 2001 he is full professor and the holder of the chair of Archivist. He was elected president of the degree course in History in Milan for the three-year period 2003-.2006 and then for the following three years (2006-2009).
He has been an advisor for the company Società Ligure di Storia Patria, since 1984.  In the three-year periods 2000-2002 and 2006-2008, he was a member of the Archives Committee of the INSMLI and, in 2001-2003, of the Scientific Committee for the Centro per lo studio della cultura d’impresa.
He has been a member of the Board of Directors of APICE and, in the four years 2005-2009, he was delegated by the Rector to preserve and safeguard the historical and archival heritage of the University of Milan. At present and until 2009, he represents the University of Milan in the Board of Directors of the Feltrinelli Foundation.