Gustavo Carlos Zerbino Stajano (born May 16, 1953) is a Uruguayan businessman, motivational speaker, sports executive and former rugby union player. He is known for being one of the 16 survivors of the

Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 was the chartered flight of a Fairchild FH-227D from Montevideo, Uruguay, to Santiago, Chile, that crashed in the Andes mountains in Argentina on 13 October 1972. The accident and subsequent survival became known ...

that crashed in the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

on October 13, 1972.

Early life and education

Gustavo Zerbino was born in

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

on May 16, 1953, as the son of lawyer Jorge Zerbino Cavajani and his wife Susana Stajano Ferreiro. He is one of the couple's nine children, and a maternal descendant of Carlos Stajano, one of the founders of

Carrasco Polo Club Carrasco Polo Club is a Uruguayan sports club from the Carrasco neighbourhood of Montevideo. Its name references directly the polo team and the fact that Carrasco has one of Uruguay's leading equestrian centres. Apart from polo, the club hosts a ...

. Raised in the Carrasco neighborhood, he attended Stella Maris College and played for its alumni rugby union team,

Old Christians Old Christian (, , ) was a social and law-effective category used in the Iberian Peninsula from the late 15th and early 16th century onwards, to distinguish Portuguese and Spanish people attested as having cleanliness of blood, known as Limpieza ...

. In 1972, he enrolled at the

University of the Republic The University of the Republic (, sometimes ''UdelaR'') is a public research university in Montevideo, Uruguay. It is the country's oldest and largest university, as well as one of the largest public universities in South America in terms of en ...

to study medicine.

Crash of Flight 571

On October 13, 1972, at the age of 19, Zerbino was a passenger on

, which crashed in the

; of the 45 passengers, he was one of the 16 who were rescued from the mountain. While the other survivors were rescued after 72 days, Zerbino stayed an extra day to return with the others' belongings. During an interview in 2022, he said of his experience on the mountain:

Career

After returning to Uruguay from the Andes, Zerbino continued studying medicine but ultimately did not graduate. Instead, he earned a business administration degree from the

. He also continued playing rugby union, he was a member of the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

, and participated in the

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

and

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

South American Rugby championships, in which Uruguay finished as runner-up. Since 1980, he has been director of Cibeles S.A., his family's pharmaceutical company founded in 1975. He also has served as president of the Chamber of Pharmaceutical and Related Specialties of Uruguay (CEFA). He is co-founder and vice president of , a foundation created in 2009 with the aim of promoting the values of this sport through awareness campaigns, events, conferences and sporting events. In addition, as a sports executive and administrator, in December 2007 he was elected president of the

Uruguayan Rugby Union The Uruguayan Rugby Union () is the governing body for rugby union in Uruguay. Foundation and affiliation It was founded in 1951 and became affiliated to the International Rugby Board World Rugby is the governing body for the sport of rug ...

, and in 2009 was re-elected for a second two-year term. In 2011 he was succeeded by Marcello Calandra.

Personal life

Zerbino was married for thirteen years to Paqui Paysée, with whom he had four children, Gustavo, Sebastián, Lucas, and Martín; the latter was a member of the band

Toco Para Vos Toco Para Vos () was a Uruguayan band formed in 2013 in Montevideo. History Toco Para Vos was formed in late 2013 when Bautista Mascia, Andrés Urioste and Sebastián Muñoz, three classmates at the Stella Maris College and rugby teammates ca ...

. In 2000, he began a relationship with the Argentine María González, whom he later married. Together they had two daughters, Luma—Gonzalez's daughter, whom Zerbino adopted—and Lupita. After fifteen years together, they divorced; in October 2019, María González died of breast cancer.

Filmography

Zerbino was portrayed by actor David Kriegel in Frank Marshall's 1993 feature film '' Alive'', and by Tomás Wolf in the 2023 feature film, ''

Society of the Snow ''Society of the Snow'' () is a 2023 survival drama film directed by J. A. Bayona and based on Pablo Vierci's 2008 book of the same name, which details the true story of a Uruguayan rugby team's experience in 1972 after Uruguayan Air Forc ...

''.

Bibliography

* The 1993 film, '' Alive'', is an adaptation of this book. * Originally published in Spanish in 2008 as ''La Sociedad de la Nieve: Por Primera Vez Los 16 Sobrevivientes Cuentan la Historia Completa.'' The 2023 film, ''

'', is an adaptation of this book.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zerbino, Gustavo Uruguayan businesspeople Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 survivors Uruguayan people of Italian descent People educated at Stella Maris College (Montevideo) Uruguayan rugby union players University of the Republic (Uruguay) alumni 1953 births Living people Uruguay international rugby union players