Born in Milan in 1839, he was given a seminary education based on his father's intuition that he had a decided leaning towards ecclesiastical life. He in fact took his priestly orders in 1862.
In 1863 he moved to Varese where the following year he began to apply himself to the education of youngsters as director of his quarter's oratory, opened in that year thanks to the work of Father Vittore Veratti. As an avowed patriot he considered that the spiritual mission of the Pope had to prevail over and above secular concerns. For this reason - although with discretion - he supported the withdrawal on the part of the Papacy from its political and territorial commitments and engagements. This position provoked the hostility on the part of the local clergy. He consequently retreated from public life and concentrated on his studies, especially Latin, Italian and local history.
On the occasion of the 1871 Varese Exhibition he published for the first time: these were a number of pamphlets treating the events and monuments of Varese which were well received by the public.
1874 saw the publication by the Varese typography of Eugenio Galli of two volumes entitled Varese e il suo circondario [Varese and its Surroundings]: this was a work in which with the methodology and typical style of the historiography of the period Brambilla collected together an important quantity of information about the area of Varese
In these two volumes he narrated stories, events and talked about monuments. He also wrote about people, perhaps in a somewhat approximate way although giving today's reader the opportunity to get to know facts and testimonies of local culture which have by now disappeared.
In 1874 Luigi Brambilla left Varese and moved to Milan, nevertheless continuing to write about the history of Varese. In 1877 he published the Guida al santuario della Madonna del Monte sopra Varese and in 1886 his Guida-ricordo di Varese e suoi dintorni.
He died in Milan in 1903.