Del Picchia was educated in the law, and was a practicing attorney in Itapira when he began writing poetry.
The establishment in 1937 ( by spiritist groups ) of the pioneering Instituto Bairral psychiatric hospital in Itapira has fostered a well-developed health sector, both public and private.
By the time of his death he had received most of the highest governmental, academic, and private honors in Brazil, and his house in Itapira is now a museum.
Today Itapira services an agricultural hinterland which grows oranges, sugar-cane, cattle and ( now-declining ) coffee, but is also a manufacturing centre, specializing in wood and paper products, agricultural machinery, and ethanol production.