Geraldo Ribeiro de Sousa Resende, the Baron Geraldo of Resende (1847–1907) was a Brazilian aristocrat and land owner of the

Empire of Brazil The Empire of Brazil was a 19th-century state that broadly comprised the territories which form modern Brazil and (until 1828) Uruguay. Its government was a representative parliamentary constitutional monarchy under the rule of Emperors Dom ...

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer m ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

of the city of

Campinas Campinas (, ''Plains'' or ''Meadows'') is a Brazilian municipality in São Paulo State, part of the country's Southeast Region. According to the 2020 estimate, the city's population is 1,213,792, making it the fourteenth most populous Brazilian ...

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Life

Geraldo Ribeiro de Sousa Resende was born in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

, on 19 April 1847, to the aristocratic and military family of the Marquis and Marquess of Valença. He studied in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. His mother's family had acquired the farm of Santa Genebra, in Campinas, and after her death, young Geraldo de Resende 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 Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. Seeds of ...

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 Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

politics, so Barão Geraldo of Resende 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. On 20 January 1889 he was awarded by royal decree the title of Baron of Iporanga. By his own request, the title was changed by another decree dated 19 June of the same year to "Baron Geraldo of Resende". 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 1 October 1907.

Legacy

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 300px, Panoramic view of Barão Geraldo, taken from a hill overlooking UNICAMP Barão Geraldo () is a district of the municipality of Campinas, in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. It is named after Barão Geraldo de Rezende, a baron of the Empi ...

), and where the large campus of the

State University of Campinas The State University of Campinas ( pt, Universidade Estadual de Campinas), commonly called Unicamp, is a public research university in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Unicamp is consistently ranked among the top universities in Brazil and Latin ...

is now located. Part of the farm was purchased by the Oliveira family, who preserved some of the natural forest. In 1981 it was donated to the municipality of Campinas, and in 1985 became an area of relevant ecological interest named the

Mata de Santa Genebra Mata de Santa Genebra (Saint Geneva Forest) is an area of relevant ecological interest in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. History The area was originally part of the Fazenda Santa Genebra, a coffee plantation owned by Baron Geraldo de Resende, ...

and jointly administered by the city and the Federal

ICMBio The Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation ( Portuguese: ''Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade'', ICMBio) is the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment's administrative arm."Brazilian Federal Law 11.516/2007 (Por ...

agency.

References

Bibliography

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

External links

Barão Geraldo: História e Identidade Local
(In PDF) {{DEFAULTSORT:Resende, Geraldo Ribeiro de Sousa 1847 births 1907 deaths People from Campinas Brazilian farmers Conservative Party (Brazil) politicians Politicians from Rio de Janeiro (city) Brazilian nobility