Eugenio Brezzi was born on June 4th 1920 at Castel San Niccolò in the province of Arezzo.
At Casentino, and more specifically in Pratomagno, the family has a property in the mountains called Bagno di Cetica, particularly attractive for it pure spa water, and runs a small hotel to accommodate people coming to take a beneficial plunge in the waters. The hotel is mainly open in the summertime and in the autumn the family returns to Maremma where father Pietro collects pine kernels.
This annual “transhumance” contributed towards enriching Eugenio’s wealth of experience in nature and its changes, and in rekindling his passion for travel and discovery. Eugenio Brezzi learnt about truffles in Maremma at the age of 7; this know-how, gained partly by play and partly by necessity, enabled him to create an important truffle processing business over the years, now known throughout the world

“For this reason Eugenio saves us from having to listen to a boring lesson on truffles, what they are, the different species, their qualities and how to use them in cooking. He was not interested in doing this and neither were we. Instead, he wanted to tell us his story, the story of a man who lived his life intensely, openly, without sparing any efforts, tackling problems, always with optimism, a positive attitude and courage, even in the most difficult times”.

Extract from Valerio Fusi preface of the book “Story of a great little truffle Hunter” by Eugenio Brezzi, Effigi Edition, 2010.