He was the third of five siblings. He felt a calling at a young age.
He went to Italy, where he studied under great hardship; despite his illness, he persevered and eventually became a Salesian brother.
In 1912–13, he was a novice in the city of Ivrea, and then took his perpetual vows.
He spent a short time in Mexico before moving to Cuba. There, on October 31, 1957, the city of Camagüey declared him an honorary citizen in recognition of his more than twenty years of work as an educator.
He had wanted to become a priest, and this wish was fulfilled in 1975 when Enzo Ceccarelli, the Apostolic Vicar of Puerto Ayacucho, ordained him a deacon.