Nadir Dias de Figueiredo
# Nadir Dias de Figueiredo

Nadir Dias de Figueiredo (São João del-Rei, Minas Gerais state, 1891 – São Paulo, São Paulo state, April 10, 1983) was a Brazilian businessman, pioneer in the country's industrial sector and patron of the main industry promotion organization in Latin America.

## History

Born to a modest family in the interior of Minas Gerais, he sought new opportunities with his brothers who would become partners in the capital of São Paulo. He was employed in the Guinle family workshops and in 1912 inaugurated a workshop for the sale and repair of typewriters, located in Largo do Tesouro, downtown São Paulo. With his brother and partner Morvan Dias de Figueiredo began his career as an industrialist giving rise to the company Nadir Figueiredo Indústria e Comércio S/A, by founding a commercial establishment in the Liberdade neighborhood of São Paulo, specialized in the electrification of gas lamps.

During World War I the company began to work with electric lighting, due to import restrictions imposed by the conflict. The younger brother Zely Dias de Figueiredo became part of the society in 1919.

In 1932 he entered the glass industry, with the purchase of Cristaleira Baroni an industry in financial difficulties and an important supplier of parts for the chandeliers manufactured by the brothers. From this acquisition came Nadir Figueiredo, the largest glass producer in Brazil and is among the ten largest manufacturers of glass for domestic use in the world. In the same year his factory even produced ammunition for the Constitutionalist Revolution.

Together with Roberto Simonsen, Eduardo Benjamin Jafet, Manuel Barros Loureiro, and his brother Morvan Dias de Figueiredo founded Companhia Bandeirantes de Seguros Gerais in 1944.

### Industrial union

He was one of the creators and founders of the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (FIESP). He organized several unions affiliated to the organization, designing the structure of the FIESP/CIESP/SESI/SENAI complex.

## Politics

As an entrepreneur he was always an articulator, making a presence in the Revolution of 1932 and the Coup of 1964 when he called FIESP and former president Juscelino Kubitscheck in an attempt to convince President João Goulart to take a less radical position, not getting the answer he wanted. In early April 1964, it influenced industrialists to distribute 2 million cruzeiros in equipment to rebel forces supporting the military movement that overthrew the government.

## Recognition

In 1957, the National Confederation of Industry (CNI) awarded him the title of "Leader No. 1 of Brazilian Industry", receiving at the age of 90 a special tribute as President Emeritus of the largest industrial organization in the country, as well as the integrated network of activities of education, culture, quality of life and safety of industrial work.

In his honor in 1983, an avenue in the Vila Maria neighborhood, in the city of São Paulo, received his name, as well as the Faculty SENAI São Paulo campus of Osasco.

Due to his importance for São Paulo industry and as patron of the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo, he was recognized in several organizations such as the Social Service of Industry (SESI) of Mogi das Cruzes, in Greater São Paulo, which inaugurated the Activity Center (CAT) Nadir Dias de Figueiredo in 1980.

## Entrepreneurship

Nadir's company, Nadir Figueiredo Indústria e Comércio S.A. (B3: NAFG3; NAFG4), exports glassware to 67 countries. 80% of its revenue come from Brazil itself, where the market for glass has been growing 6% per year in the 21th Century.

## Legacy

Nadir invented the copo americano, the most popular glassware in Brazil, with billions of units sold since the 1940s.

