Mário Ottoboni

Mário Ottoboni (September 11, 1931, Barra Bonita, São Paulo – January 14, 2019, São José dos Campos, São Paulo) was a journalist, writer, lawyer, and creator of the Association for the Protection and Assistance of the Convicted (known as APAC).

He was married to Cidinha Ottoboni, who died on the same date as Mario, but in 2016.

Early days Mário Ottoboni was born in Barra Bonita, a town in the state of São Paulo. At the age of 12, his family moved to São José dos Campos city.

In 1974, the entity was separated into two: the legal entity, APAC – Associação de Proteção e Assistência aos Condenados (Association for the Protection and Assistance of the Convicted) – and the spiritual entity, APAC – Amando o Próximo, Amarás a Cristo.

APACs are units which are organized by the Brazilian Fraternidade Brasileira de Assistência aos Condenados (FBAC) (English: Fraternity of Assistance to Convicts), which in turn is linked to the Prison Fellowship International.

As his legacy, more than 100 APACs were created throughout Brazil, in addition to the application of the APAC method, even if in a limited way, in countries such as Germany, the United States, the Netherlands, Norway, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chéquia, Singapore, and Chile.