Mr Paolo Luigi Crovella was born in San Sebastiano da Po in Turin, Italy on 19 September 1895 and was one of six children born to Stefano Crovella and the former Cristina Ortalda.

His sister Irene (b. 1887) married a French waiter and settled in London whilst his brother Giuseppe (b. 1889) also moved to that city where he worked as a cook. It was Luigi's wish to follow them to London.

He appears on the 1911 census residing at 33 Clifton House, 131 Cleveland Street in Marylebone, west London and he was described as an unmarried waiter; this was the address of his sister Irene and her husband Charles Delmastro and their infant daughter Olga (b. 1910).

He came under the employ of Italian restaurateur Luigi Gatti and served aboard Olympic in the à la carte restaurant. He was then chosen to serve aboard Titanic's maiden voyage as an assistant waiter. He signed on 6 April 1912 giving his age as 17, in fact he was only 16 and was the youngest member of the restaurant staff and the third youngest crew member overall.  His local address was 5 Orchard Place, Southampton.

During the sinking, there were reports that the largely continental staff of the restaurant, mainly French, Italian, Swiss, German and Belgian, were herded to their quarters by stewards and kept there. Indeed, only three from the staff survived, two of whom were the female cashiers.

Paolo Luigi Crovella died in the sinking and his body, if recovered, was never identified.

He is remembered on a memorial plaque (bearing his photograph) in a cemetery in Colombaro.