The son of Sebastiano Zerbino and Emilia Traverso, he joined the Fascist movement at a very young age, while studying law at the University of Pisa.

After the promulgation of the Italian racial laws in 1938, he led the persecution of Jews in the province of Vercelli.

[2][3][1] In June 1941, after the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia and the establishment of the Governatorate of Dalmatia, he was appointed prefect of the new province of Spalato, a post he held for over two years.

On 30 September 1943 he was appointed head of the Province of Turin, officially taking office on 21 October 1943.

[6] On 7 May 1944 he was appointed Undersecretary of the Interior of the Italian Social Republic, and on 21 September 1944 he was also appointed extraordinary commissioner for Piedmont; in this capacity, he led the crackdown on the Italian Resistance in Piedmont and especially the repression of the partisan republic of Alba in November 1944.