Captain Bellini, world champion with the Brazilian National Team in 1958 and 1962 was unveiled at Itapirense in 1946. He has performed in several teams, such as Vasco and São Paulo. The captain lifted the cap above his head when he first made it to the 1958 World Cup. Bellini suffered from Alzheimer's disease ten years ago, and died on March 20, 2014 in São Paulo, at the age of 83. He was buried in Itapira, where he was received with honors from all Itapirenses and other authorities present. 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. 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. The town is home to a large number of professionals (such as the noted economist J.B. de Souza Ferreira Fo.), many of whom commute to neighbouring towns such as Campinas. The current mayor is José Natalino Paganini, an ex-footballer. The town's Historical Museum displays interesting relics of one of the last major battles of the Paulista War, which was fought nearby.