Inventor of Jacuzzi Bath Dies at Age 83

Candido Jacuzzi, an Italian immigrant whose name became synonymous with relaxed life styles, has died at age 83.

The inventor of the swirling whirlpool bath that bears his name and is a feature in thousands of homes and most health spas throughout the country had been paralyzed since suffering a cerebral aneurysm in 1975.

He died Tuesday at his winter home in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Jacuzzi was the youngest of seven brothers to emigrate with their parents from the family farm in Casarsa della Delizia in northern Italy to Northern California in the early 1900s.

They purchased a machine shop in 1915 where they turned out a propeller used on airplanes during World War I. The Jacuzzis also designed and manufactured cabins for monoplanes and submersible pumps.

Candido Jacuzzi, who was sales and general manager and later company president, had a 15-month-old son, Kenneth, who suffered from rheumatoid arthritis. The boy’s physician recommended hydrotherapy, and Jacuzzi designed a whirlpool bath suitable for home use that was similar to one he had seen at the hospital.

Jacuzzi soon realized not only the therapeutic but the commercial value of his adaptation and the compact Jacuzzi bath was marketed in the early 1950s, followed by spas that were developed in the mid-1960s.

Manufacturing operations were established in California, Arkansas, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Italy.

Jacuzzi, who held more than 50 patents at his death, served as president of Jacuzzi Bros. for more than 40 years before he retired in 1971.

Besides his sons Kenneth and John, he is survived by his wife, Ranieri, and daughters, Alba Kosta and Irene Davidson.