Alfio Piva Mesén (born 9 January 1940) is a

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

n politician, veterinarian, scientist and environmentalist. He was the First Vice President of Costa Rica from 2010 to 2014. The Second Vice President during that interval was Luis Liberman. Piva obtained a Ph.D. in animal physiology from the

University of Milan The University of Milan ( it, Università degli Studi di Milano; la, Universitas Studiorum Mediolanensis), known colloquially as UniMi or Statale, is a public research university in Milan, Italy. It is one of the largest universities in Europe ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and co-founded the Veterinary School of the

National University of Costa Rica The National University of Costa Rica (in Spanish, Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica, abbreviated UNA) is one of five public universities in the Republic of Costa Rica, in Central America. The main campus is located in the city of Heredia. Ac ...

. In 1995 he won the

Prince of Asturias Award The Princess of Asturias Awards ( es, Premios Princesa de Asturias, links=no, ast, Premios Princesa d'Asturies, links=no), formerly the Prince of Asturias Awards from 1981 to 2014 ( es, Premios Príncipe de Asturias, links=no), are a series of a ...

in Technical and Scientific Research along with his colleagues from INBio.

References

1940 births Living people People from San José, Costa Rica Vice presidents of Costa Rica Costa Rican scientists University of Milan alumni National Liberation Party (Costa Rica) politicians Costa Rican expatriates in Italy {{CostaRica-politician-stub