Salvatore Arena (known as Salvador Arena, January 12, 1915 – January 28, 1998) was an Italian-Brazilian businessman. He was the founder of Termomecanica São Paulo and the Salvador Arena Foundation. Biography Youth & education Born in Tripoli, Libya, his parents were Nicola Arena, natural from Sicilia and Giuditta Patessio Arena, natural from Veneza. Having a humble background, his father processed metals in a workshop on the property and, wanting to help with the family's income, at the age of eight he started making candles. Salvador Arena arrived in Brazil in 1920 at the age of 5, settling with the family in the city of São Paulo in the Vila Prudente and was illiterate until he was 7 years old. However, when a priest visited his house, he noticed his ease with the letters and convinced his mother to enroll him in Catholic education when he was 10 years old. Graduated at the age of 21 from the Escola Politécnica da USP. Career Light In 1937 he started at Light, being influenced by the engineer Billings where he got involved in the Cubatão Hydroelectric Power Plant project. During his time at Light, Arena also worked as an industrial parts designer. His time at Light also influenced his choice of employees and the development of his didactics, by liking to help others to progress. Termomecanica After several years in Light, without a dazzle of evolution and inspired by working with his father on metal selling, he came to resign. In 1942, with US$200 that he had received from the company, he founded Termomecanica São Paulo SA, which started in Mooca, manufacturing the first electric bakery ovens in Brazil, subsequently achieving success on the market with the recycling of non-ferrous scrap metals with its greatest creation being the production of the bronze alloy TM 23, which until today is one of the most used in the Brazilian industry. At the end of World War II, Arena multiplied the capacity of its company by buying second-hand equipment from the US. In 1950, he created a continuous casting process. In 1957, he became a naturalized Brazilian. In the district of , São Bernardo do Campo, was the place where, in the 50's, he started the manufacture of its new factory, which came to focus on the diversified production of non-ferrous metals. For the transition of the country's economy from agricultural to industrial, this was a