When Agatino Arena was born on 13 July 1883, in Catania, Catania, Sicily, Italy, his father, Francesco Arena, was 44 and his mother, Natala Strazzeri, was 37. He married Francesca Punzio on 11 February 1909, in Catania, Catania, Sicily, Italy. He died on 14 December 1957, in his hometown, at the age of 74.