Ricardo Brennand facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ricardo Brennand
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Ricardo Coimbra de Almeida Brennand
27 May 1927 Cabo de Santo Agostinho, Brazil
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| Died | 25 April 2020 (aged 92) Recife, Brazil
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| Alma mater | Federal University of Pernambuco |
| Occupation | Businessman, art collector |
| Relatives | Francisco Brennand (cousin) |
Ricardo Coimbra de Almeida Brennand (born May 27, 1927 – died April 25, 2020) was a Brazilian businessman and engineer. He was also a famous art collector from the state of Pernambuco, Brazil. In 2002, he started the Ricardo Brennand Institute. This museum has the world's largest private collection of paintings by the Dutch artist Frans Post. In 2014, the museum was even ranked as one of the best in the world by TripAdvisor.
Contents
Ricardo Brennand's Early Life
Ricardo Brennand was born in Cabo de Santo Agostinho. His parents were Dulce Padilha Coimbra and Antônio Luiz de Almeida Brennand. In 1930, when he was young, his family moved to Recife.
School Days
Ricardo went to Colégio Marista from 1937 to 1942. There, he learned to speak German and English very well. This was because his family had British ancestors. One of them, Edward Brennand, came to Brazil in 1820.
Starting His Collections
When Ricardo was a boy, his father gave him a pocketknife. This made him start collecting weapons and paintings. He later studied engineering at the Federal University of Pernambuco. He graduated in 1949.
Business and the Museum
For many years, Ricardo Brennand worked in his family's business. They made things like glass, steel, ceramics, and cement. He managed these companies with his cousin, Cornélio Brennand.
Selling the Cement Factories
In 1999, Ricardo and Cornélio sold their cement factories. They sold them to a Portuguese company called Cimpor for a lot of money. Ricardo used some of this money to create the Ricardo Brennand Institute (IRB) in 2001. After this big sale, Ricardo and Cornélio decided to split their businesses.
New Investments
After starting the museum, Ricardo Brennand began investing in energy. He put money into wind power and hydropower (energy from water). Later, he also invested in real estate, like building a private community called Reserva do Paiva. In 2019, his company planned to build three wind farms in Bahia. They also wanted to get into solar power.
The Ricardo Brennand Institute
The Ricardo Brennand Institute is a museum with many historical and artistic items. These items come from different time periods, from the Middle Ages to today.
Famous Collections
The museum has important documents and art about the colonial period in Brazil. It also focuses on the time when the Dutch were in Brazil, known as Dutch Brazil. A very special part of the collection is the paintings by the Dutch artist Frans Post. He was part of the group led by John Maurice, Prince of Nassau-Siegen, who was in charge of the Dutch colony in Pernambuco.
How the Collection Grew
In 1952, Ricardo Brennand went to England. There, he bought many weapons that later became part of the museum's collection. He bought many items for the museum from auctions and other private collections. In 2003, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands even visited the museum.
His Wealth
In 2019, the magazine Forbes said Ricardo Brennand was worth about R$3.1 billion. This made him one of the oldest billionaires in Brazil at that time.
Ricardo Brennand's Family Life
Ricardo Brennand was married to Graça Monteiro Brennand. They had eight children together. He was also the cousin of the famous ceramics artist Francisco Brennand.
His Passing
Ricardo Brennand passed away on April 25, 2020, at the age of 92. He died in Recife due to health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil. The governor of Pernambuco, Paulo Câmara, and the mayor of Recife, Geraldo Júlio, shared their sadness. The mayor even declared three days of mourning to honor Ricardo Brennand.
See also
In Spanish: Ricardo Brennand para niños
