Francisco Paulo de Almeida, first and only Baron of Guaraciaba (10 January 1826 – 9 February 1901), was a Brazilian landowner and banker. He distinguished himself for being one of the most financially successful black men in 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 ...

. He owned several plantations and about two hundred slaves in just one of them (estimated at a thousand slaves in all), with a fortune estimated at the time at seven hundred thousand ''contos de

réis The first official currency of Brazil was the real (pronounced ; pl. ''réis''), with the symbol Rs$. As the currency of the Portuguese empire, it was in use in Brazil from the earliest days of the colonial period, and remained in use until 1942 ...

''. He was the owner of the Yellow Palace in the city of

Petrópolis Petrópolis (), also known as the Imperial City, is a municipality in the Southeast Region of Brazil. It is located in the state of Rio de Janeiro, northeast of the city of Rio de Janeiro. According to the 2022 Brazilian census, Petrópolis mun ...

Biography

Almeida was the son of António José de Almeida and his first wife, Galdina Alberta do Espírito Santo. He was married to Brasília de Almeida (1844–1889). He began his life as a goldsmith, specializing in the manufacture of collar buttons. He was an accomplished violinist and supplemented his income by playing at funerals. Later on he became a ''

tropeiro Tropeiro is the designation given to troop and commissions Droving, drovers of horse, cattle and mule moving between commercial regions and consumer centers in Brazil from the 17th century.FERREIRA, A. B. H. Novo dicionário da língua portugu ...

'' and in 1860 he bought his first farm in Arraial de São Sebastião do Rio Bonito. Almeida concentrated his coffee business in

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

and

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 ...

(in the

Paraíba Valley The Paraíba Valley () is a landform that encompasses the regions: Paraíba Valley Metropolitan Region and Northern Coast, in the state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo and Sul-Fluminense Region, in the state of Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Jane ...

). He owned several coffee farms, including Fazenda Veneza, in Conservatória (today part of

Valença Valença may refer to: People * Valensi (surname), alternative spelling *Marquis of Valença, a Portuguese title of nobility *Count of Valença, a Portuguese title of nobility *Alceu Valença (born 1946), a Brazilian composer *Valença (football ...

), later owned by Lily Marinho, and Fazenda do Pocinho (which was owned by the Almeida e Souza family) located between the towns of

Barra do Piraí Barra do Piraí () is a List of municipalities in Rio de Janeiro, municipality of the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro. It is located at latitude 22º28'12" South and longitude 43º49'32" East. Its population is 100,764 ( ...

and

Vassouras Vassouras (, lit. 'Brooms') is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of 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 popul ...

. Historian Carlos Alberto Dias Ferreira, author of the book ''Barão de Guaraciaba, Francisco Paulo de Almeida: um negro no Brasil Império-Escravagista'', states about the baron: He was a founding partner of the Banco Territorial de Minas Gerais and the Banco de Crédito Real de Minas Gerais. Being awarded the noble title of baron in 1887 by princess

Isabel Isabel is a female name of Iberian origin. Isabelle is a name that is similar, but it is of French origin. It originates as the medieval Spanish form of ''Elizabeth (given name), Elisabeth'' (ultimately Hebrew ''Elisheba''). Arising in the 12th c ...

, he was the first black baron of the empire, notable for his beneficence in favor of the '' Santas Casas''. After the proclamation of the Republic, he acquired the Yellow Palace, the current seat of the legislature of the city of Petrópolis, and was harassed by the legislature, until he sold his property.

Descendants

His children were: * Mathilde de Almeida (and Souza). * Adelaide de Almeida. * Cristina de Almeida. * Adelina de Almeida. * Seberlina de Almeida. * Paulo de Almeida. * Artur de Almeida. * Mário de Almeida. * Francisco de Almeida. * Raul de Almeida. * Paulo de Almeida Guaraciaba His sons were sent to France to study, with his death they returned to Brazil and some adopted Guaraciaba as a surname.

References

External links

The black baron that had a thousand slaves
{{DEFAULTSORT:Almeida, Francisco Paulo de Brazilian nobility 1826 births 1901 deaths Brazilian slave owners Afro-Brazilian people 19th-century Brazilian businesspeople 19th-century planters Brazilian bankers People from Minas Gerais People from Petrópolis