Nationality Brazilian Name Wallace Simonsen | Occupation Banker Succeeded by Teresa Delta | |
Born May 23, 1884
Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil ( 1884-05-23 ) Spouse(s) Maria Emilia Moretson Simonsen Died June 6, 1955, Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil Parents Robertina Cochrane Simonsen, Sidney Martin Simonsen | ||
Wallace Cochrane Simonsen was a Brazilian banker and the first mayor of Sao Bernardo do Campo, one of the cities pertaining to the Metropolitan Region of Sao 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 (later bought by Banco Santander Brasil ).
In 1929, he owned a property in Vila de Sao Bernardo, the old name for the district located in the city of Sao Bernardo, which comprised the current cities of Sao Bernardo do Campo, Sao Caetano do Sul, Diadema and Santo Andre, although most of the government facilities were allocated in the latter one's lands. When Getulio Vargas's intervenor (acting as Governor of Sao Paulo) Adhemar de Barros decided to transfer the city's seat to Santo Andre and downgrade Sao Bernardo as a mere district, a group of entrepreneurs, Wallace Simonsen leading, founded the Society of Friends of Sao Bernardo (Sociedade de Amigos de Sao 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, 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.
The original Simonsen's farmstead still exists, named as Woodland Farm (Chacara Silvestre) now at an avenue named after him, as a municipal heritage site.