He created and was the main owner of the largest educational holding in the country, comprising the Sistema Objetivo (primary, secondary and preparatory schools) and the Universidade Paulista (UNIP), a private university with more than 60 campuses all over Brazil.
Born in Brazil, Di Genio started his educational career while he was a medical student at the University of São Paulo, in São Paulo in the 1960s.
The inborn entrepreneurial spirit of di Genio led him to create a one-year preparatory pre-med course, initially in his own home.
The success achieved by the course prompted him to establish a formal school, together with three of his colleagues (Drauzio Varella, Tadasi Ito and Roger Patti), which was named Curso Pré-Vestibular Nove de Julho.
Di Genio died in São Paulo on 12 February 2022, at the age of 82.