Vittorio Sclopis graduated with a degree in Engineering from the Scuola di applicazione per gli ingegneri di Torino (today’s Politecnico) in 1866, and went on to run his family’s business. In 1812, Vittorio’s grandfather, Vittorio Felice Sclopis, founded a chemical company, Sclopis & Carignani, that produced sulfuric acid and sulfates. After Vittorio Felice’s heirs purchased rights to the mines in the area of Brosso (Torino), the company became the most important extractive company in Italy and the first to manufacture sulfuric acid using pyrite. After Vittorio Sclopis took over the management of the family’s company, he was very successful in taking advantage of his age’s technological innovations such as the use of funicular railways to increase production in the Brosso mines. In addition, with Italy’s entry into World War I, the company enjoyed increased revenues when it began to participate in the war effort by producing explosives.

Vittorio Sclopis was a member of the Chamber of Commerce of Turin, and the founder of the Associazione chimica industriale di Torino. Inspired by North European models, he emphasized the connections between industry, politics, and scientific research in the name of progress and industrial expansion in both roles. Sclopis also served as town councilor in Turin from 1896 to 1899.