Walter Moreira Salles, also Walther Moreira Salles (May 28, 1912 – 2001), was a Brazilian

banker A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

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, a ...

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 ...

, considered as one of the founders of the modern Brazilian banking industry.

Career

Moreira Salles was born in 1912 in

Pouso Alegre Pouso Alegre is a municipality in southern region of Minas Gerais state, Brazil, with a population of 152,549 in 2020. The area of the municipality is 543 km². It lies in the valley of the Sapucaí River. Cities that form boundaries with Po ...

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...

. He graduated from the Faculty of Law of Largo de São Francisco,

University of São Paulo The University of São Paulo ( pt, Universidade de São Paulo, USP) is a public university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. It is the largest Brazilian public university and the country's most prestigious educational institution, the best ...

. In 1926 his father, João Moreira Salles, established the Casa Bancária Moreira Salles (Moreira Salles Banking House) in the town of

Poços de Caldas Poços de Caldas is a municipality in the south of Minas Gerais state, Brazil, in the microregion of the same name. Its estimated population in 2020 was 168,641 inhabitants. The city is known for its hot springs. History Poços was founded in 1 ...

, around north-west of

, and Walter was made an acting partner in 1933 at the age of 21. In 1940, Banco Moreira Salles merged with three regional banks, eventually changing its name to União de Bancos Brasileiros (

Unibanco Unibanco S.A. was a Brazilian bank which operated from 1924 to 2009, when it was merged into Banco Itaú. The name stood for ''União de Bancos Brasileiros'' ("Union of Brazilian Banks"). Foundation In 1924 João Moreira Salles established the C ...

). Moreira Salles implemented a series of successful acquisitions and an emphasis on human resources, helping to make Unibanco one of Brazil's top three banking institutions. In 1991, Moreira Salles retired as chairman of the board after a 60-year career to become honorary chairman, taking over the conglomerate's cultural activities. In 1990-91 Moreira Salles launched the Instituto Moreira Salles (IMS), a

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

whose goal is to promote the development of cultural projects in five areas:

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

, libraries, visual arts and

Brazilian music The music of Brazil encompasses various regional musical styles influenced by European, American, African and Amerindian forms. Brazilian music developed some unique and original styles such as forró, repente, coco de roda, axé, sertanejo, ...

. Moreira Salles became the first President of the Instituto. A year later IMS opened the Casa de Cultura de Poços de Caldas, in the city where Casa Moreira Salles was founded. The organization now has cultural centres 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 b ...

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 ...

and

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte (, ; ) is the sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population around 2.7 million and with a metropolitan area of 6 million people. It is the 13th-largest city in South America and the 18th-largest in the Americas. The metropol ...

, and four galleries, in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro,

Curitiba Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Brazil. The city's population was 1,948,626 , making it the List of cities in Brazil by population, eighth most populous city in Brazil and the largest in ...

and

Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, , Brazilian ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of 1,488,252 inhabitants (2020) makes it the List of largest cities in Brazil, twelfth most populous city in the country ...

. Poços de Caldas Airport is named after him.

Political involvement

Moreira Salles was also involved in Brazilian politics. He was the country's ambassador to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in the 1950s, serving in

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

twice during the decade. He was

Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

in the cabinet of

João Goulart João Belchior Marques Goulart (1 March 1919 – 6 December 1976), commonly known as Jango, was a Brazilian politician who served as the 24th president of Brazil until a military coup d'état deposed him on 1 April 1964. He was considered the ...

, and gained the favour of President

Juscelino Kubitschek Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira (; 12 September 1902 – 22 August 1976), also known by his initials JK, was a prominent Brazilian politician who served as the 21st president of Brazil from 1956 to 1961. His term was marked by economic prosp ...

for his work as a conciliator in his diplomatic incursions. In the 1950s he helped negotiate the growing problem of Brazil's external debt on three occasions, during the governments of

Getúlio Vargas Getúlio Dornelles Vargas (; 19 April 1882 – 24 August 1954) was a Brazilian lawyer and politician who served as the 14th and 17th president of Brazil, from 1930 to 1945 and from 1951 to 1954. Due to his long and controversial tenure as Brazi ...

, Kubitschek and

Jânio Quadros Jânio da Silva Quadros (; January 25, 1917 – February 16, 1992) was a Brazilian lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd president of Brazil The president of Brazil ( pt, Presidente do Brasil), officially the president of the Fe ...

Personal and family life

Moreira Salles had many celebrity friends, including the rock musician

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

, Brazilian President

Fernando Henrique Cardoso Fernando Henrique Cardoso (; born 18 June 1931), also known by his initials FHC (), is a Brazilian sociologist, professor and politician who served as the 34th president of Brazil from 1 January 1995 to 31 December 2002. He was the first Brazi ...

, and the actress

Greta Garbo Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress. Regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses, she was known for her melancholic, somber persona, her film portrayals of tragedy, ...

. Moreira Salles died in 2001, at Araras, in the district of

Petrópolis Petrópolis (; ), also known as The Imperial City, is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the Southeast Region, Brazil, Southeast Region of Brazil. It is located in the state of Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro, northeast of the ci ...

, in Rio, of causes not disclosed by his family. His four sons are

Pedro Moreira Salles Pedro Moreira Salles (born October 20, 1959) is a Brazilian billionaire businessman, banker, and the chairman of Itaú Unibanco, founded by his father Walter Moreira Salles, and the largest non-government banking institution in Brazil. Career S ...

, current president of Unibanco; filmmaker

Walter Salles Walter Moreira Salles Júnior (; born 12 April 1956) is a Brazilian filmmaker. Early life Salles was born on 12 April 1956 in Rio de Janeiro and attended the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. He is the son of Brazil ...

; documentarian

João Moreira Salles João Moreira Salles (Rio de Janeiro, born 1962) is a Brazilian documentarian and president of the Instituto Moreira Salles. In 2006, he founded the magazine piauí. He has also taught courses on documentary at the Pontifical Catholic Universit ...

; publisher Fernando Moreira Salles. Salles was married three times, to Helène Matarazzo, the mother of Fernando, whom he divorced at the age of 28; Eliza Gonçalves, the mother of Pedro, Walter and João, and his wife until the early 1970s; and Lúcia, whom he married in 1986.

References

External links

Instituto Moreira Salles
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salles, Walter Moreira 1912 births 2001 deaths Finance Ministers of Brazil Brazilian bankers People from Minas Gerais Ambassadors of Brazil to the United States Salles family