Wallace Cochrane Simonsen
1st Mayor of São Bernardo do Campo
In office
January 1, 1945 – March 19, 1947
Succeeded byTereza Delta
Personal details
Born(1884-05-23)May 23, 1884
Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
DiedJune 6, 1955(1955-06-06) (aged 71)
São Paulo, SP, Brazil
SpouseMaria Emília Moretson Simonsen
Parents
  • Sidney Martin Simonsen
  • Robertina Cochrane Simonsen
OccupationBanker
[1]

Wallace Cochrane Simonsen was a Brazilian banker and the first mayor of São Bernardo do Campo, one of the cities pertaining to the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo, most specifically the ABC Region.

In his early professional life, he worked as a broker in the coffee market. Eventually he founded his own bank, Banco Noroeste [1] (later bought by Banco Santander Brasil[2]).

In 1929, he owned a property in Vila de São Bernardo, the old name for the district located in the city of São Bernardo, which comprised the current cities of São Bernardo do Campo, São Caetano do Sul, Diadema and Santo André, although most of the government facilities were allocated in the latter one's lands.[3] When Getúlio Vargas's intervenor (acting as Governor of São Paulo) Adhemar de Barros decided to transfer the city's seat to Santo André and downgrade São Bernardo as a mere district, a group of entrepreneurs, Wallace Simonsen leading, founded the Society of Friends of São Bernardo (Sociedade de Amigos de São Bernardo), claiming for emancipation.

The claim was successful, and in 1944 a state decree established the new city, including "do Campo" suffix to the former district denomination, and appointing Simonsen as the first mayor,[4] which was eventually deposed by Adhemar de Barros in 1947 due to political divergencies between them, giving path to the ascension of Tereza Delta as the new mayor.[1]

The original Simonsen's farmstead still exists, named as Woodland Farm (Chácara Silvestre) now at an avenue named after him, as a municipal heritage site.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Biography of the Mayors of São Bernardo do Campo". ABC do ABC (in Portuguese). Retrieved December 10, 2013.
  2. ↑ Cristino, Vânia (March 31, 1998). "BC conhece desfalque no Noroeste há um mês" [Central Bank of Brazil is aware of Noroeste's defrauding a month ago]. O Estado de S. Paulo. p. B8. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Timeline of Mayors of São Bernardo do Campo". City Hall of São Bernardo do Campo (in Portuguese). Retrieved December 10, 2013.
  4. ↑ "A Instalação do Município de São Bernardo do Campo" [The Establishment of the Municipality of São Bernardo do Campo]. O Estado de S. Paulo (in Portuguese). January 3, 1945. p. 8. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
  5. ↑ "City Hall of Santo André website" (in Portuguese). Retrieved December 10, 2013.
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