Mário Henrique Simonsen (c. 1935 – 9 February 1997) was a Brazilian economist, who served as Brazil's finance minister from 1974 to 1979.
Simonsen was appointed Brazil's finance minister by President
Ernesto Geisel
Ernesto Beckmann Geisel (, ; 3 August 1907 – 12 September 1996) was a Brazilian Army officer and politician, who was President of Brazil from 1974 to 1979, during the Brazilian military regime.
Early life and family
Ernesto Geisel was born ...
with instructions to reduce the country's runaway inflation rate.
Despite Simonsen's efforts, the official inflation rate had risen to 40% ''per annum'' in 1979 and he was shifted to Planning Minister.
He was succeeded by
Antonio Delfim Netto
Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular mal ...
, with whom he had an uneasy relationship due to the latter's inclination to increase borrowing, and hence inflation.
Simonsen resigned from Cabinet in 1980 and became a director of Citicorp, a position he held until 1995 when he was forced by ill-health to retire. He was a chronic heavy smoker and suffered from
emphysema.
Other interests
Simonsen was an excellent
baritone and an opera aficionado.
Family
He was married to
Iluska Pereira da Cunha Simonsen
Iluska Pereira da Cunha Simonsen (22 February 1941 – 28 March 2017) was a Brazilian chess player who held the ICCF title of Lady International Correspondence Chess Grand Master (2000).
Biography
In the mid of 1970s Iluska Pereira da Cunha Simo ...
. Thy had two sons and a daughter.
See also
*
Portuguese Wikipedia entry
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simonsen, Mario Henrique
Brazilian economists
1935 births
1997 deaths