Leon Feffer
BornNovember 27, 1902
Ukraine
Died7 February 1999 (age 96)
CitizenshipBrazil
OccupationBusinessman
Known for Founder of Suzano Papel e Celulose
SpouseAntonietta Teperman
Children2 including Max Feffer
Parent(s)Bertha Brandes Feffer
Simpson Feffer
FamilyDavid Feffer (grandson)

Leon Feffer (1902–1999) was a Brazilian businessman who founded Suzano Papel e Celulose.

Biography

Feffer was born on November 27, 1902, to a Ukrainian Jewish family in Rovno, Ukraine[1] (other sources say Kolki, Ukraine),[2] the son of Bertha (née Brandes) and Simpson Feffer.[3] In 1910, concerned about increasing anti-Semitism, his father immigrated to Brazil where he worked as a peddler selling stationery items around São Paulo and Mato Grosso from his ox-drawn cart.[3] In 1920, his father had saved enough money to bring his wife, two sons (Leon and David) and two daughters (Maria and Regina) to Brazil.[3][1][4] Leon started his first business manufacturing candles although it was not successful as Sao Paulo already had electricity.[3] On June 15, 1923,[1] he founded a paper distribution business purchasing imported and domestic paper for sale to local retailers.[3] By chance, a large domestic paper factory suffered a fire and he was able to purchase a large quantity of paper rolls (damaged externally but near perfect internally) which enabled him to profit greatly during the Great Depression after Brazil banned imports.[3] He expanded by purchasing a printing press, established a retail store,[2] and constructed an envelope factory (which became one of the largest in the country).[4] In 1939, he sold everything (including his house, his wife's jewelry, and his store)[3] and completed a paper factory in 1941 in the São Paulo neighborhood of Ipiranga.[1] The factory used imported pine pulp to produce its paper.[3] In 1946, the company was named Indústria de Papel Leon Feffer (IPLF).[4] He encouraged his son Max, who was studying at the Juilliard School of Music, to help him find a local substitute for pine fiber.[3] Max, working with biologists at the University of Florida, determined that eucalyptus pulp was a good substitute for pine pulp.[3] In 1946, he purchased Indústria de Papel Euclides Damiani and he gradually mixed eucalyptus fiber into its production.[4] In 1956, he renamed the company Suzano Papel e Celulose.[2] In 1960, he purchased another paper mill, Indústria de Papel Rio Verde.[4] In 1961, he was using 100% eucalyptus as a raw material.[4] The rest of the paper industry adopted the use of eucalyptus and Brazil shifted from a net importer of cellulose to a net exporter of cellulose.[1] Under his tutelege, Suzano became the second largest integrated paper manufacturer in Latin America.[1]

Philanthropy

plaque proclaiming Antonietta and Leon Feffer Square in Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel
Antonietta and Leon Feffer Square in Rothschild Boulevard, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel

He served as president of Colégio Renascença, a school for the Jewish community[1] from 1939 to 1962.[4] In 1953,[4] he was seminal in founding A Hebraica in São Paulo, then the largest Jewish club in the world.[1] From 1956 to 1964, he served as Israel's consul to São Paulo (Federação Israelita do Estado de São Paulo).[1][4] In 1959, he funded the construction of the Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein in the Morumbi, São Paulo neighborhood.[1]

Personal life

Feffer was married to Antonietta Teperman.[4][5] They had two children, Max (1926–2001) and Fanny (1930–2017).[4] He died on 7 February 1999.[1]

In 1995, Forbes Magazine named him as the fifth richest Brazilian with a net worth of $1.6 billion US dollars.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Leon Feffer morreu domingo; sua empresa foi pioneira na produção de celulose de eucalipto; filho assume cargo Fundador da Cia. Suzano morre aos 96". Folha de S.Paulo (in Portuguese). 9 February 1999.
  2. 1 2 3 "Leon Feffer". davidfeffer.com.br (in Portuguese). Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Friedlander, David (12 April 2010). "Os Novos Negôcios dos Velhos Capitāes da Industria" (PDF). O Estado de S. Paulo (in Portuguese).
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Olhar de empreendedor" (PDF). ecofuturo.org.br (in Portuguese). Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  5. ↑ Moreira, Aline (1 November 2017). "Praça Antonietta e Leon Feffer é Inaugurada na Suzano Papel". Diario Desuzano (in Portuguese).
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