Umberto Zavagli Ricciardelli di Brocchetti delle Caminate was born in Rimini (Emilia Romagna) on August 30, 1926. He had a doctorate in law but was very sensitive to the agricultural field since his family was involved in the production and marketing of wine in Italy. He learned about the SICA project and the Sansonetti family in Costa Rica in 1952 and decided to undertake a similar project with coffee cultivation in the area of San Vito de Java, as it was called at that time. His first trip was in 1956. Together with a group of partners he acquired some land to establish La Hacienda El Cedro. It was a difficult time at the beginning (as for all settlers), where it was necessary to "turn" the mountain and open paths for the passage of vehicles. Later, always with the partners, he founded the Compañia Agrícola Industrial del Sur (CAIS) and built a coffee mill. After that initial stage he returned to Italy to attend to the family business and the activities inherent to his profession, returning in 1958 and 1960. In the latter year, he met the woman who would become his wife, Mrs. Virginia Castro Salazar, whom he married in the city of San José in the Church of Santa Teresita on November 30 of that year, with Father Umberto Melloni officiating the sacrament. He then moved to Italy to live in the cities of Rome and Monza, where his children Alessandro (1961) and Valentina (1964) were born. He returned to San Vito for short periods in 1962 and 1971 until he moved his permanent residence to San José in 1973, dedicating himself to different businesses in the real estate sector and ventures in the fast food sector. His relationship with the investments he had made in San Vito ended definitively in the mid-1980s. Among the closest people he had during his colonial years were Mr. Luigi Laurencich, Mr. Luigi Minelli, Mr. Alessandro Muzzi, Mr. Luciano Iussi, Mr. Alessandro Poma Murialdo, Mr. Camillo Cusani Visconti, Mr. Ruggero Castaldini and Mr. Erno Dino Ulcigrai. He died in San José on September 10, 2005.
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