Tenhamos sempre presente que o homem (Let us always remember that man)
é a melhor medida. E que a medida do (is the best measure. And the measure of)
homem não é a morte, mas a vida. (Man is not death, but life.)
(Cid Sampaio, 27/01/1963)
Cid Feijó Sampaio, industrialist and sugarcane mill owner, was Governor of Pernambuco from1959 to 1963, Federal Representative from 1967 to 1971, and Senator of the Republic from 1983 to 1987. Born in Recife, on 7December 1910, he was the fifth son of farmer and industrialist Mendo de Sá Barreto Sampaio and Sofia Feijó Sampaio.
Following the custom of the time, he began his studies at home with a tutor. Later, he studied at the RecifeGymnasium, later renamed Father Felix Gymnasium, in honour of its then-director, Father Felix. After completing high school he went to Germany, where he spent two years.
When he returned to Brazil, he enrolled at the Polytechnic School of Rio de Janeiro, where he almost simultaneously studied theI ndustrial Chemistry and Civil Engineering courses, followed by a degree in Industrial Engineering. He also graduated in sociology and biology, courses which at that time lasted only two years.
His first job as an engineer was the building of electrical installations on a dairy factory in Rio de Janeiro. Back in Pernambuco, he joined his brothers Laeland Elzer to work at the family sugarcane mill in Catende, where he was Industrial Director for several years.
He married Dulce de Souza Leão Sampaio, with whom he had five children:two boys and three girls.
He held several key positions in the state of Pernambuco. In 1947, he was president of the Federation of Industries, and in 1952, the first elected president of the Centre of Industries, created with the purpose of conducting economic studies comparing the different regions of Brazil, whilst also assuming the presidency of the Sugar Mills cooperative.
It was through the National Democratic Union (UDN), political party to which he had been affiliated since 1947, that he entered politics, and was appointed as the party candidate for Pernambuco Governor. He was supportedby Luiz Carlos Lacerda and Gregorio Bezerra,among others, both from the Brazilian Communist Party (PCB), and was elected by an overw helming majority vote.
Before taking office, he travelled to the United States, then visited several European countries, including some located in the so-called “iron curtain”, further extending his trip to China to study the newest achievements techniques applied to industry and agriculturein-loco.
Returning, he assumed the governing of State on 31January 1959. His administration was mainly focused on industrialisation. Among his projects, worth highlighting is the construction of Pernambuco Synthetic Rubber Company (COPERBO),a maker of rubber from sugarcane ethanol, based in the Metropolitan Region of Recife.
The state companywas discontinued by the Miguel Arraes government due to deficit problems, and during the Nilo Coelho government (1967-1971) it was sold to Petrobrás, which restructured its industrial complex and started to use oil as the raw material.
Cid Sampaio created the BS Bonus, an incentive for the collection of Tax on Goods (ICM). The bonus was a stamp received by the consumer when purchasing goods that was exchanged for raffle tickets drawn monthly for several prizes.
He created the Pernambuco State Development Bank (BANDEPE), and set up CILPE in Recife, a dairy and milk processing factory, with milk-receiving units in the different municipalities of the Agreste region and which supplied Recife.
In 1961, the Governor at the time supported the candidacy of Miguel Arraes, his brother-in-law, for mayor of Recife. Arraes won the election with the “Recife Front”, a political party alliance of leftist forces and nationalist currents in Pernambuco.
In 1962, due to political differences with Miguel Arraes, Cid Sampaio supported the candidacy of the sugarcane mill owner João Cleofasfor state governor, but his candidate was defeated and he ended up handing over the job to Miguel Arraes in 1963.
After the military coup of 1964, Cid Sampaio joined the National Renewal Alliance (ARENA), asituationistparty despite being against the military movement. He was elected federal deputy for Pernambuco in the 1967 to 1971mandate as an ARENA candidate.
In 1974, Cid Sampaio, with Etelvino Lins, Paulo Guerra and Nilo Coelho, opposed the nomination of MouraCavalcanti to be the new governor of Pernambuco, did not support the appointment of General Ernesto Geisel, and even though they belonged to the same party, MouraCavalcantiand Cid Sampaio broke off their relations.
Cid ran for Senator representing ARENA in aby-election in 1978, against opposition candidates JarbasVasconcelos of the Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB) and Nilo Coelho, also for ARENA, but supported by former political rival and then-Governor Moura Cavalcanti. The sum of the votes of two ARENA candidates defeated Jarbas,with Nilo Coelho elected followed by Cid Sampaio in second.
Once more, in 1982, Cid tried to reach the Senate, joining on the ballot of the PMDB, which had Marcos Freire as a candidate for governor. Yethe was beaten once more. However, with the unexpected death of Senator Nilo Coelho on 9 November 1983, a dispute ensued over who should assume the duties: the alternate or second-highest vote-getter in the previous election. The prevailing hypothesis was of the most-voted, and Cid Sampaio assumed the position, holding office until the end in 1987.
In 1994, he ran for Governor of Pernambuco with the PMDB, with support from the October 8 Revolutionary Movement (MR-8),against Gustavo Krause of the Liberal Front Party (PFL) and Miguel Arraes from the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB). Miguel Arraes won by a wide margin of votes.
Cid participated in various seminars and conferences, made speeches and published some works, among which worth highlighting are: Economia do Nordeste (Economy of the Northeast); Estudos sobre o preço do açúcar (Studies on the Price of Sugar); Processo ou ruína, açúcar, cana e política para exterminá-los no Nordeste (Process or Ruin, Sugarcane and Policy to Exterminate Them in the Northeast); Tratamento de choque para crise(Shock Treatment forEconomic Crisis); A problemática açucareira no Nordeste(The Sugar Issue in the Northeast); A Economia Nacional(National Economy); O álcool como combustível(Alcohol as Fuel); O Porto do Recife (The Port of Recife) andReforma tributária (Tax Reform).
The many honours received by him include: the Tamandaré Medal of Merit; Medal of Industrial Merit, Grand Cross of Argentina; Grand Cross of Italy, Grand Officer of the Order of the National Congress; Pernambuco Engineering Club Medal. In 2002, the Legislative Assembly of Pernambuco graced him with the title ‘Exponent of Pernambuco’.
Cid Sampaio died in the city of Recife on 30 September 2010, aged 99.
Recife, 29 february 2008.
(Updated on 9 september 2009).
Translated by Peter Leamy, February 2012.
sources consulted
BIOGRAFIA dos Senadores. Disponível em: . Acesso em: 13 fev. 2008.
CID Sampaio. Almanaque do Recife Lítero-Charadístico, Recife, 1962.
CID Sampaio. Disponível em: . Acesso em: 13 fev. 2008.
SAMPAIO, Cid. Entrevista realizada pelo CEHIBRA, da Fundação Joaquim Nabuco, em sua residência, no Recife. Depoimento colhido pela pesquisadora Eliane Moury Fernandes. Recife, 25 abr. 1989.
SAMPAIO, Cid. Quatro anos de governo. Recife: Governo do Estado, 1963.
how to quote this text
Source: ANDRADE, Maria do Carmo. Cid Sampaio. Pesquisa Escolar Online, Joaquim Nabuco Foudation, Recife. Available at: <http://basilio.fundaj.gov.br/pesquisaescolar/>. Accessed: day month year. Exemple: 6 Aug. 2009