Geraldo Ribeiro de Sousa Resende, the Baron Geraldo of Resende (1847–1907) was a Brazilian

aristocrat The aristocracy (''from Greek'' ''ἀριστοκρατία'' ''aristokratía'', "rule of the best"; ''Latin: aristocratia'') is historically associated with a "hereditary" or a "ruling" social class. In many states, the aristocracy included the ...

and land owner of the

Empire of Brazil The Empire of Brazil was a 19th-century state that broadly comprised the territories which form modern Brazil and Uruguay until the latter achieved independence in 1828. The empire's government was a Representative democracy, representative Par ...

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer ...

and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

of the city of

Campinas Campinas (, ''Plains'' or ''Meadows'') is a Brazilian Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in São Paulo (state), São Paulo State, part of the country's Southeast Region, Brazil, Southeast Region. According to the 2020 estimate, the city's popul ...

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Life

Geraldo Ribeiro de Sousa Resende was born in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, on 19 April 1847, to the aristocratic and military family of the Marquis and Marquess of Valença. He studied in

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. His mother's family had acquired the farm of Santa Genebra, in Campinas, and after her death, young Geraldo de Resende decided to settle there in 1870. The farm was semi-ruined and worthless, but with characteristic vigor and entrepreneurship, he transformed and expanded it into one of the most productive farms of the region, with extensive

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

and

coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

plantations. The Baron was known for his modernity regarding the use of new methods and machinery in agriculture and was one of the founders of the Club da Lavoura in 1878, a club of wealthy and progressive farmers. In 1876 he married D. Maria Amélia Barbosa de Oliveira. Inevitably, the Club became politically influential soon after, and many of its members involved themselves in local and state

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

politics, so Barão Geraldo of Resende was no exception. He was elected councilman from 1883 to 1886, president of the local chapter of the pro-monarchic Conservative Party, and state congressman by the 7th District of São Paulo in 1886. On 20 January 1889 he was awarded by royal decree the title of Baron of Iporanga. By his own request, the title was changed by another decree dated 19 June of the same year to "Baron Geraldo of Resende". Like many of his colleagues he bitterly abandoned politics after the fall of the monarchy in 1889 and returned to his farm. Unfortunately, an economic crisis created many financial difficulties for the Baron, who had no other means of support, and he had to sell the Santa Genebra farm, dying just before it, on 1 October 1907.

Legacy

The region in and around part of the Santa Genebra farm became a subdistrict of the city of Campinas, which was named in his honour (

Barão Geraldo 300px, Panoramic view of Barão Geraldo, taken from a hill overlooking UNICAMP Barão Geraldo () is a district of the municipality of Campinas, in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. It is named after Barão Geraldo de Rezende, a baron of the Em ...

), and where the large campus of the

State University of Campinas The University of Campinas (), commonly called Unicamp, is a public research university in the state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Brazil. Established in 1962, Unicamp was designed from scratch as an integrated Research institute, researc ...

is now located. Part of the farm was purchased by the Oliveira family, who preserved some of the natural forest. In 1981 it was donated to the municipality of Campinas, and in 1985 became an area of relevant ecological interest named the Mata de Santa Genebra and jointly administered by the city and the Federal

ICMBio The Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation ( Portuguese: ''Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade'', ICMBio) is a government agency under the administration of the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment. It is nam ...

agency.

References

Bibliography

Smith, Warney. ''Barão Geraldo, A Luta pela Autonomia (1920-1980)''. Centro de Memória da Unicamp, 1996.

External links

Barão Geraldo: História e Identidade Local
(In PDF) {{DEFAULTSORT:Resende, Geraldo Ribeiro de Sousa 1847 births 1907 deaths People from Campinas Brazilian farmers brazilian monarchists Conservative Party (Brazil) politicians Politicians from Rio de Janeiro (city) Brazilian nobility