Pierantonio Costa ( born 7 May 1939 ) is an Italian businessman , diplomat and a rescuer of many lives during the Rwandan genocide . He was born in Mestre on 7 May 1939 as the fifth of seven children . At age 15 he joined his father who had emigrated to Zaire . He had his first experience of African wars in 1960 in Bukavu , where he successfully transported groups of Congolese refugees across Lake Kivu . After a revolt called the Simba Rebellion broke out , he moved to newly independent Rwanda where he lived until 1994 . Today he divides himself between Kigali and Brussels
Rwandan genocide
Rwandan genocide
Pierantonio Costa