Leonor Giménez de Mendoza is a Venezuelan businesswoman and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

. She was the president of

Empresas Polar Empresas Polar is a Venezuelan corporation that started as a brewery, founded in 1941 by Lorenzo Alejandro Mendoza Fleury, Juan Simon Mendoza, Rafael Lujan and Karl Eggers in Antímano "La Planta de Antimano", Caracas. It is the largest and best ...

for five years and is president and founder of the Empresas Polar Foundation.

Biography

Leonor Giménez was born in

Barquisimeto Barquisimeto (; guc, Watkisimeeta) is a city in Venezuela. It is the capital of the state of Lara and head of Iribarren Municipality. It is an important urban, industrial, commercial and transportation center of the country, recognized as the fou ...

Lara State Lara State ( es, Estado Lara, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Barquisimeto. Lara State covers a total surface area of and, in 2015, had a census population of 2,019,211. Toponymy The state is named after a notable ...

. She was educated at the Colegio María Auxiliadora in the same city. She spent a year in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

to improve her English. In 1956, after the death of her father, she travelled to Madrid with her mother. There she met Lorenzo A. Mendoza Quintero. In 1959 they married in Caracas where they established their residence and had six children: Elisa, Leonor, Isabel, Lorenzo, Patricia and Juan Simon. In 1976, she joined her husband in the leadership of

. Together, in 1977, they created the Empresas Polar Foundation. Later, after her husband's death in 1987, she led the company for five years and was a member of its board of directors. She was also president of the Asociación de Damas Salesianas and member of the board of directors of the Centro de Atención Nutricional Infantil Antímano (CANIA), a non-profit institution created by Cervecería Polar in 1995.

Awards and recognitions

Paez Medal of Art The Paez Medal of Arts is a decoration awarded by The Venezuelan American Endowment for the Arts (VAEA) that is presented once a year to an individual or group that has had an impact and contributed to excellence, growth, support and the prolifera ...

(2021)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Giménez de Mendoza, Leonor Venezuelan women in business Living people Date of birth missing (living people) People from Barquisimeto Venezuelan philanthropists Year of birth missing (living people)