Irineu Evangelista de Sousa (), the Viscount of Mauá (28 December 1813 – 21 October 1889), was a Brazilian entrepreneur,

industrialist A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...

, banker and politician. Born to a family of small '' estancieiros'' (ranchers), Sousa became one of the world's richest men; by 1867, his wealth was larger than the annual budget of the

Brazilian Empire 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 Pe ...

. He was called ''the

Rothschild Rothschild () is a name derived from the German ''zum rothen Schild'' (with the old spelling "th"), meaning "with the red sign", in reference to the houses where these family members lived or had lived. At the time, houses were designated by signs ...

of the South American continent'' by the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

in 1871. He received the titles of

baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...

(1854) and ''visconde com grandeza'' ( viscount with greatness) (1874) of

Mauá Mauá () is a municipality in the state of São Paulo, in Brazil. Is part of the metropolitan region of São Paulo. The population as of 2020 is 477,552 inhabitants (11th largest city in population number of the state), the density is and the ar ...

. A pioneer in several areas of the

economy of Brazil The economy of Brazil is historically the largest in Latin America and the Southern Hemisphere in nominal terms. The Brazilian economy is the third largest in the Americas. The economy is a middle income developing mixed economy. In 2022, acc ...

, one of his greatest achievements was to start the construction of the , the first railroad in Brazil, in 1852. At his peak, Sousa controlled eight of the country's ten largest companies (the remaining two were state-owned); his banking interests stretched over to Britain, France, the United States and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. Mauá also founded the first bank in

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

(Banco Mauá y Cia). Sousa, who established the modern

Banco do Brasil Banco do Brasil S.A. ( en, Bank of Brazil) is a Brazilian financial services company headquartered in Brasília, Brazil. The oldest bank in Brazil, and among the oldest banks in continuous operation in the world, it was founded by John VI, King ...

, is credited with financing much of the Brazilian economy activity in the 19th century, particularly in coffee plantation, and with the construction of the first railroads,

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

and

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...

metalwork Metalworking is the process of shaping and reshaping metals to create useful objects, parts, assemblies, and large scale structures. As a term it covers a wide and diverse range of processes, skills, and tools for producing objects on every scale ...

in the country. Sousa commissioned the first

telegraphic Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

submarine cable Submarine cable is any electrical cable that is laid on the seabed, although the term is often extended to encompass cables laid on the bottom of large freshwater bodies of water. Examples include: *Submarine communications cable *Submarine power ...

connecting South America to Europe, developed commercial transportation via

steamboats A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...

on the

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and

Guaíba Guaíba is a city located in the Metropolitan Porto Alegre of Porto Alegre, in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. The city is on the shores of the Guaíba Lake. History In the current territory of the municipality of Guaíba there have ...

rivers, and installed the first

gas Gas is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, liquid, and plasma). A pure gas may be made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon), elemental molecules made from one type of atom (e.g. oxygen), or ...

-fueled

street lights A street light, light pole, lamp pole, lamppost, street lamp, light standard, or lamp standard is a raised source of light on the edge of a road or path. Similar lights may be found on a railway platform. When urban electric power distribution ...

in the city of

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 b ...

, then Brazil's capital. His fortunes turned around with the decay of the Empire after the

Paraguayan War The Paraguayan War, also known as the War of the Triple Alliance, was a South American war that lasted from 1864 to 1870. It was fought between Paraguay and the Triple Alliance of Argentina, the Empire of Brazil, and Uruguay. It was the deadlies ...

, by the time he died, Sousa had lost most of his wealth.

Biography

Early life

The second son of João Evangelista de Ávila e Sousa and Mariana de Jesus Batista, Irineu Evangelista de Sousa was born on 28 December 1813 on his father's ranch in the then village of Nossa Senhora da Conceição do Arroio Grande, currently the municipality of

Arroio Grande Arroio Grande (Portuguese meaning the big stream) is a Brazilian municipality in the southern part of the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The population is 18,238 (2020 est.) in an area of 2513.60 km². Its second industry is agriculture which wa ...

, near Brazil's southernmost border with the Spanish dominions in South America, which at the time was part of

Jaguarão Jaguarão () is a municipality in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul located on the shores of the Jaguarão River, bordering Uruguay. It lies a short distance inland from the Mirim Lagoon. Geographical and historical proximity to ...

in the captaincy (later province) of São Pedro do Rio Grande do Sul. Sousa had ancestry from the

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

region of Portugal. Records show his paternal grandfather, Manuel Jerônimo de Sousa, was the owner of the Arroio Grande ''sesmaria'', that is, a large plot of land given by the Portuguese crown, in 1798. In 1818, when Sousa was five years old, his father was murdered while camping at night when travelling with a herd of cattle, this deeply affected the family's income. His mother then married again in 1821, but the new husband did not want her children from the previous marriage; Mariana then offered Irineu's sister, Guilhermina, who was only 12 years old, in marriage to a man named José Machado de Lima. Irineu, who was 9 at the time, was taken to Rio de Janeiro by his uncle at the request of his mother. His uncle, José Batista de Carvalho, was the captain and owner of a sailing ship and regularly travelled to India, Portugal and the Brazilian coast, stopping at several of its ports. Writer Anyda Marchant remarks Irineu might have had two years of schooling in

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 GaWC a ...

, from 1821 to 1823, pointing out, however, that this is unlikely. Another one of Irineu's biographers, Cláudio Ganns, dimisses this entirely, arguing that there is not any plausible indication to it. Irineu had been taught how to read and count from a young age by his mother. Once in Rio de Janeiro, the young boy was left alone, as his uncle once again sailed to India; Irineu was employed in a warehouse, where he worked as a clerk.

Legacy and honors

At a time in which Brazil was dominated by government-protected landowners who prioritized exports in a slave-based economy, Sousa defended

free enterprise In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any ...

liberalism Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...

industrialization Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econo ...

and the

abolition of slavery Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

. After his death, he was given several honors and acknowledgements: *He is the patron of the

Ministry of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government age ...

*The district of Visconde de Mauá is named after him *The Baron of Mauá International Bridge links the city of

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, , ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative_units_of_Brazil#List, fifth-most-populous state and the List of Brazilian st ...

with

Río Branco, Uruguay Río Branco is a city in the Cerro Largo department of northeastern Uruguay, it borders the Brazilian city of Jaguarão, with which it communicates through the Baron of Mauá International Bridge. Name The words ''Rio Branco'' mean "white rive ...

*The day celebrated to the merchant navy in Brazil is on Sousa's birthday, December 28, due to his efforts ahead of the Ponta d'Areia shipyard.

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sousa, Irineu Evangelista De 1813 births 1889 deaths 19th-century Brazilian people Brazilian businesspeople Brazilian politicians Brazilian nobility