Valerio Ricetti (; 4 October 1898 – 1952) was an Italian-Australian hermit who lived mainly in a cave in the Griffith area for a period of 23 years. Working only at night and in the early morning hours so that he would not be seen, he turned the cave into his own private "utopia" complete with kitchen, chapel, landscaping, pathways, stone walls, stone stairs, paths, terraced gardens and cisterns for water supply.
Biography
Early life in Italy
Valerio Ricetti was born in Sondalo, a municipality in the Province of Sondrio in the Italian region of Lombardy which is a part of the Italian Alps, close to the border of Switzerland, and located about 130 km northeast of Milan and about 40 km northeast of Sondrio. Although Ricetti informed his lifelong friend Petronio Ceccato that he was born on 4 October 1898 he did at times adjust his date of birth so as to either get work, or receive adult pay rates. From that perspective while there is no actual birth record available there are other records related to his later dealings with police in Australia which in detail given by him state that his date of birth was 12 March 1897.
As a young teenager he was apprenticed to become a stonemason and concrete worker, learning his trade in road and rail tunnel construction. Ricetti had always wanted to come to Australia and he was saving money for the trip. His uncle, who had noted the impending war (which became World War I), suggested he migrate to Australia before all passenger shipping was cancelled, and then lent him the money to travel.
Early life in Australia
Ricetti arrived at Port Pirie, South Australia in October 1914, just as he turned 16 years of age, working there for some months before moving to the mining town of Broken Hill and finding work there. In Broken Hill he stayed at a boarding house owned by Valentino and Elisabeth Ceccato. Valentino helped Ricetti get a job at the mine where he worked. The mine was owned by Francesco Bicego. He learned to speak English very well, and he could already speak Italian, German and French. Ricetti worked in the Broken Hill area until 1918, leaving heartbroken because a barmaid whom he intended to marry had spurned his love.
Returning to South Australia he worked in various jobs for several years and a certain level of frugality allowed him to save a year's wages, which he had in his pocket when he visited a brothel in the city. He left the brothel somewhat absentmindedly leaving his wallet and its contents behind. When he returned for his wallet, the establishment's pimp refused to let him back in and in his anger he threw a rock through one of the windows. The police were called, and a chase saw him captured and sentenced to time in Adelaide Gaol.
When he was released he left South Australia to spend time in Victoria. While in Melbourne he tried to pawn his one remaining possession, a coat. Ricetti fell foul to a scandalous passer-by who pretended to assist but instead disappeared with the piece of clothing.
Moving then to Burrinjuck, New South Wales in 1928, Ricetti managed to get some work as a sailor on the Mary Anne, a paddle steamer that worked the Murray River, Murrumbidgee River and Lachlan River. As a part of his travels he followed the Murrumbidgee downstream to the Lachlan then upstream to Hillston, New South Wales. From Hillston he walked, with no fixed destination, along the railway line arriving at the fringes of Griffith where a rainstorm forced him to find shelter. Next day exploring where he had stayed the night he found a huge overhanging rock which formed a dry, cave-like area. Nearby there were two reservoirs full of water, fruit and vegetable farms and a rubbish dump which not only had plenty of rabbits, but where he found a shovel, pick head, and axe head for which he made handles from nearby tree branches.