Swiss Brazilian
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (500.000 (estimated descendants)) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Mainly Southeastern Brazil | |
| Languages | |
| Portuguese, German, French, Italian | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity (mostly Protestantism and Roman Catholic) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Other White Brazilian (especially German Brazilians, Austrian Brazilians, Luxembourg Brazilians, French Brazilians and Italian Brazilians), Swiss people |
Swiss Brazilians (Portuguese: Helveto-brasileiros, Brasileiros suíços) are Brazilian citizens of full or partial Swiss ancestry, who remain culturally connected to Switzerland, or Swiss-born people permanently residing in Brazil.
In 1818, King John VI of Portugal, then resident in Rio de Janeiro, authorized the entry into Brazil of Swiss immigrants from the state (canton) of Fribourg (Switzerland). The parish was given the name of "São João Batista de Nova Friburgo" (Saint John the Baptist of New Fribourg) and was founded in 1820.
The history of Swiss immigration to Brazil began with the foundation of the colony of Nova Friburgo in 1819. Nova Friburgo was the first colonial company contracted by the Portuguese government. The immigrant colonists wrote letters for publication in Swiss newspapers of the period, and these documents reveal the migrants' perceptions, information and expectations.
On July 4, 1819 saw the departure from Estavayer-le-Lac, Lake Neuchatel, of 1088 Swiss, including 830 from the Canton of Fribourg, including Jean-Claude Marchon, his wife Marie Prostasie Chavannaz Marchon, his brother Antoine Marchon and his fiancee Marieanne Elizabeth Clerc, to Basel, the meeting point of the Swiss Transmigration for Brasil. And then 2006 Swiss, by the Rhein River, went to the Netherlands and after a lot of peripetia they departed from 's-Gravendeel, near Dordrecht, in the Daphne, for the crossing of the Atlantic Ocean, on September 11.
Their arrival in Rio de Janeiro was on November 4, spenting 55 days, a very good time for the epoch. And, finally, they arrive in Morro-Quiemado (Burnt Mount) on November 15, 1819 – about 12000 kilometers in 105 days, approximately 114 kilometers a day.
In Morro-Queimado, in the forested mountains, about 140 kilometers from Rio, now three big farms, acquired by the King João VI, of Brazil, Portugal and Algarves, for the establishment of the Swiss Transmigration and the Foundation of a new city – Nova Friburgo (New Fribourg). And the Marchons became the Founders of Nova Friburgo and Marie Prostasie - the first Marchon to die in the New World, dies of complications post-partum the day following the birth of the first woman Marchon in Brasil, on September 4, 1821, Marie Rosaline Marchon. About 20 years after, Marie Rosalyne married with Swiss Henri Monnerat, son of Swiss immigrants François Xavier Monnerat and Elizabeth Köhler Monnerat and leaves a prolific and important descent.
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Wikipedia