The Barão de Mauá , Irineu Evangelista de Sousa, better known as Baron and Viscount with grandeur of Mauá, was one of the most illustrious figures in Brazilian history, standing out as a merchant, shipowner, industrialist, banker, diplomat and one of the great opponents of slavery and the slave trade. of slaves, as well as the precursor of economic liberalism in Brazil.
Divided between the activities of industrialist and banker, at the age of forty Irineu was already one of the richest men in the Empire; therefore, he became known for his excellent ability in managing financial and human resources, ensuring the distribution of the company's profits among employees and practicing a salary policy as an investment in manpower.
Biography
Born in a cattle-raising region in Rio Grande do Sul (Arroio Grande) on December 28, 1813, Irineu Evangelista de Sousa was also the paternal grandson of the parish founder, Manuel Jerônimo de Sousa. However, at the age of eight, he was handed over to the care of his uncle Manuel José de Carvalho.
At the age of eleven (1824), he was already a bookkeeper for the merchant Antônio Pereira de Almeida, from which he distinguished himself and was admitted in 1830 to the import company of the Scotsman Richard Carruthers, who took him on as an apprentice and taught English and accounting, promoting the young Irineu to manager and partner, in addition to initiating him in the English Freemasonry of the York Rite. He married his niece Maria Joaquina de Sousa Machado in 1841, with whom he had eighteen children, most of whom died prematurely due to inbreeding.
He decided to become an industrialist and renew Brazil shortly afterwards, after traveling to England and seeing its capitalist model. His first undertaking was in 1845, with the Brazilian imperial government, with the concession of supplying iron pipes for canalization of the Maracanã River, in the city of Rio de Janeiro. For this purpose, he acquired the Ponta da Areia foundry, in Niterói, transforming it into a shipbuilding yard, which came to an end when the 1860 law exempted the import of ships from duties. This can be considered, in a way, the reflex of becoming persona nom grata to the Brazilian Empire, after financing the imperial enemies in the Silver issues in 1850.
Subsequently, the entrepreneurship of Mauá, with Companhia de Navegação do Amazonas and Banco Mauá, Mac Gregor &Cia, both initiatives from 1852, and the gas lighting project for the city of Rio de Janeiro, in 1854, was very profitable. However, a new setback in 1866, when freedom of navigation on the Amazon River is granted to all friendly nations, will be the beginning of the end. Nevertheless, the year 1854 also marks the date on which Irineu became the Baron of Mauá, after carrying out the construction of 14 kilometers of railway line between the port of Mauá (Guanabara Bay) and the station of Fragoso, (Serra of the Star).
Another feat that marked his career was the cost of installing the submarine cable, in 1874, as a gift to the Emperor. In the meantime, he served as deputy for the Province of Rio Grande do Sul in 1856, 1859-1860, 1861-1864, 1864-1866 and 1872-1875, resigning in 1873. His bankruptcy came in 1878, with the end of Casa Mauá &Cia. , when, at the age of 76, Irineu Evangelista de Sousa settled all his debts and ended his days with dignity at his residence in Petrópolis, dying on October 21, 1889.
The Context of Barão de Mauá
Irineu Evangelista de Sousa lived in a context in which the forces of liberalism and protectionism faced each other in Brazil, represented by the dichotomies Empire x Capital; Slavery x Wage Work. Nevertheless, his visionary ideas challenged and threatened the political elites of the Empire, making the viscount the target of intrigues and systematic sabotage by the forces of conservatism of the economic and social structure. Note that his bankruptcy was caused on purpose and could have been avoided with a government loan, which he was denied.
Curiosities
- In 1860, Irineu controlled seventeen companies located in six countries (Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, England, France and the United States) and his fortune was estimated at 115 thousand contos de réis, a value greater than the budget of the Empire of Brazil, of 97 thousand contos de réis. In addition, eight of the top ten companies in the country were his.
- He helped fellow countrymen involved in the Farroupilha Revolution to escape prisons in Rio de Janeiro.