Yeda Rorato Crusius (born July 26, 1944) is an economist and was governor of the Brazilian state 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 ...

from January 1, 2007, until December 31, 2010. She was the first female governor of the state. She wrote her autobiography.

Background and political associations

She graduated in

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

from the

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 ...

and

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

. She has been living in

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 ...

since 1970, when she married Carlos Augusto Crusius. In 1990, she joined

PSDB The Brazilian Social Democracy Party ( pt, Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira, PSDB), also known as the Brazilian Social Democratic Party or the Party of Brazilian Social Democracy,. is a political party in Brazil. As the third largest par ...

Court cases

Crusius was accused of environmental crimes during her tenure as Rio Grande do Sul governor but was acquitted by

Gilmar Mendes Gilmar Ferreira Mendes (born December 30, 1955) is a Brazilian Justice of the Supremo Tribunal Federal (Brazilian Supreme Federal Court), appointed by then President Fernando Henrique Cardoso in 2002. Mendes was also the Chief Justice for the 200 ...

. She was also prosecuted for alleged corruption and money laundering activities in 2006 and 2010 involving the Odebrecht Group. This Brazilian conglomerate was accused of making payments for Crusius' congressional campaign. The In 2019, the 3rd Federal Court of Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, convicted her for administrative misconduct over a fraud scheme that involved Rio Grande do Sul State Traffic Department (Detran-RS), the Technology and Science Support Foundation (Fatec), and the Educational and Cultural Foundation for Development.

References

1944 births Living people Government ministers of Brazil Brazilian economists Brazilian women economists Brazilian people of Italian descent University of São Paulo alumni Vanderbilt University alumni Governors of Rio Grande do Sul Brazilian Social Democracy Party politicians Women government ministers of Brazil Women state governors of Brazil Brazilian people of German descent {{Brazil-economist-stub