Benefactor 

Better known with the name of "Zeffiro" (as reported on the plaque of the relevant street in the centre), Zeffirino Massa was born in Sanremo on 27th January 1832 from Lodovico and Teresa Martini.
At birth he was so frail of constitution that his parents, fearing for his survival, did not allow him to be taken out of the house to be baptized until after four months, so that the child could only be baptized the following May 16th.

After completing his studies, he began his career as a state employee in the prefectures of the Kingdom. Good-hearted and deeply sensitive to the poor and the dispossessed, he worked ceaselessly to alleviate the suffering of the neediest, setting himself the goal of building up a capital to be used for charitable purposes.

He led an isolated life, far from the hustle and bustle, until his death, staying in a modest flat in Genoa in Piazza Sarzana, furnished in an extremely sober manner.

She thought of providing for the orphans of the poor of her hometown, finding a valid help in the matuzian benefactress Petronilla Sappia, who, since her wealth was not enough to help the needy, was soliciting further economic subsidies, thus managing to open the Providence Institute in the Arenella area, where she took in about fifty girls. Massa himself, when he came to Sanremo, was always accompanied by the Sappia to visit his institute, to which he intended to leave the necessary capital to guarantee its existence.

He died in Genoa on 24th May 1892, leaving a will drawn up on 1st January 1881, in which he decided that all his assets, of which he assigned the usufruct to his cousins Anna and Vincenza Volpe, would be destined to the nursery school for children of both sexes, born in Sanremo, orphaned and without any means of support, or for children of parents unable to provide for their children. As the two Fox sisters were prematurely tested, the Kindergarten could immediately dispose of the entire bequest.

The Municipal Administration, interpreting the sentiments of the population, wanted to pay due homage to the illustrious fellow citizen by having his body transferred from Genoa to Sanremo, on 7th February 1897, to bury it in the cemetery of the Mouth, where the following inscription was placed on the specially built tomb in December 1900:
« To Zeffirino Massa / who / for the poor orphans / wanted a kindergarten to be erected in Sanremo / all by tying the large sum of money to it / the Municipality / with grateful hearts posed / dec. MCM ».

Moreover, afterwards, the Municipal Administration dedicated a street to him.

(source: notes by Andrea Gandolfo and others)(source: notes by Andrea Gandolfo and others)