Barão Geraldo de Rezende

Geraldo Ribeiro de Souza Rezende, Baron Geraldo de Rezende (1847-1907) was a Brazilian aristocrat of the Empire of Brazil, farmer and politician of the city of Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.

He was born in Rio de Janeiro, on 19 April 1847, a son to the aristocratic and military family of the Marquis and Marquess of Valença. He studied in Paris, France. His mother's family had acquired the Farm of Santa Genebra, in Campinas, and after her death, young Geraldo de Rezende decided to settle there in 1870. The farm was semi-ruined and worthless, but with characteristic vigor and entrepreneurship, he transformed and expanded it into one of the most productive farms of the region, with extensive sugarcane and coffee plantations. The Baron was known for his modernity regarding the use of new methods and machinery in agriculture and was one of the founders of the Club da Lavoura in 1878, a club of wealthy and progressive farmers. In 1876 he married D. Maria Amélia Barbosa de Oliveira.

Inevitably, the Club became politically influential soon after, and many of its members involved themselves in local and state conservative politics, so Barão Geraldo de Rezende was no exception. He was elected councilman from 1883 to 1886, president of the local chapter of the pro-monarchic Conservative Party, and state congressman by the 7th District of São Paulo in 1886. Like many of his colleagues he bitterly abandoned politics after the fall of the monarchy in 1889 and returned to his farm. Unfortunately, an economic crisis created many financial difficulties for the Baron, who had no other means of support, and he had to sell the Santa Genebra Farm, dying just before it, on October 1, 1907.

The region in and around part of the Santa Genebra Farm became a subdistrict of the city of Campinas, which was named in his honour (Barão Geraldo), and where the large campus of the State University of Campinas is now located.

References

Smith, Warney. "Barão Geraldo, A Luta pela Autonomia (1920-1980)". Centro de Memória da Unicamp, 1996.

External links

* [http://www.rhr.uepg.br/v7n2/10%20-%20NP%20Smith%20OK.pdf Barão Geraldo: História e Identidade Local] (In PDF)