Mario Capecchi was born in the Italian city of Verona as the only child of Luciano Capecchi , an Italian airman who would be later reported as missing in action while manning an anti-aircraft gun in the Western Desert Campaign , and Lucy Ramberg , an American-born daughter of Impressionist painter Lucy Dodd Ramberg and German archaeologist Walter Ramberg .
His mother , Lucy Ramberg , was the American-born daughter of Impressionist painter Lucy Dodd Ramberg and German archaeologist Walter Ramberg .