Ludwig Passini was born on 9 July 1832 in Vienna, the son of Louise Passini and the engraver Johann Nepomuk Passini. On 9 November 1864 Passini married Anna Warsaw (1841–1866), who was the daughter of Robert and Mary Warschauer, the great-granddaughter of banker Joseph Mendelssohn and the great-great-granddaughter of philosopher Moses Mendelssohn. The couple, who lived alternately in Berlin and Rome, had one daughter. Anna died one and a half years after the wedding. Ludwig Passini died on 6 November 1903 in Venice.