Eufrásia Teixeira Leite
| Eufrásia Teixeira Leite | |
|---|---|
.jpg) |
|
| Born | 1850 Vassouras, Rio de Janeiro, Empire of Brazil |
| Died | 1930 (80 years) Rio de Janeiro, Federal District, Brazil |
| Nationality | Brazilian |
| Alma mater | Madame Grivet Girls' School |
| Occupation | Financial investor and philanthropist |
| Net worth | Rs874:786$762 |
Eufrásia Teixeira Leite (Vassouras, 1850 - Rio de Janeiro, 1930) was an heiress, financial investor and Brazilian philanthropist. She left in testament a fortune that could buy 1,850 kg of gold, at the prices of the time, having been one of the richest people in the world that time, and whose greater part was bequeathed to assisting and educational institutions of the city of Vassouras. Alone, Eufrásia multiplied the family fortune several times and would be a billionaire by today's standards.
She was the youngest daughter of Dr. Joaquim José Teixeira Leite and Ana Esméria Correia e Castro, being the paternal granddaughter of the Baron of Itambé, maternal granddaughter of the Baron of Campo Belo, niece of Baron of Vassouras and grand-niece of Baron of Aiuruoca. She had a single sister, Francisca Bernardina Teixeira Leite (1845-1899), and a brother who died as a child.
Her paternal grandfather's family was already very wealthy when she moved from Conceição da Barra de Minas to Vassouras. Her father and uncle Baron of Vassouras established themselves as capitalists, founding in Rio de Janeiro the company "Casa Teixeira Leite & Sobrinhos", which lent money to interest and made financial intermediation with the prosperous coffee farmers. On the other hand, his mother's family was composed only of rich coffee planters, being a member of the traditional Correia e Castro family.
By Brazilian standards at the time, she received an aristocratic education, having studied at the Madame Grivet Girls' School, which existed in the locality of Comércio, today Sebastião Lacerda, in Vassouras. In addition to basic education, she learned good manners, speaking French and playing the piano.
On the death of her parents, in 1872, Eufrásia and her sister inherited a fortune of 767:937$876 réis (767 contos, nine hundred and thirty-seven thousand, eight hundred and seventy-six réis), which at the time was equivalent to the endowment Personnel of the Emperor Dom Pedro II or 5% of Brazilian exports. Soon after, in 1873, her grandmother, the Baroness of Campo Belo, died, and the sisters received as their inheritance another 106:844$886 (one hundred and six contos, eight hundred and forty-eight thousand, eight hundred and eighty-six réis) in form of titles and slaves, which were soon sold.
At the time, the region of Vassouras fell into decay, due to the exhaustion of the soil and the aging of the slaves, but the sisters' assets were not coffee farms; They had public debt securities of the National Loan of 1868, Banco do Brasil shares, bank deposits, personal loans, only 12 slaves, a house in Rio de Janeiro and a large urban property in Vassouras, now known as Casa da Hera or Chácara da Hera, where they lived with their parents.
...
Wikipedia