Carlos Francisco Theodoro Machado Ribeiro de Lessa, better known simply as Carlos Lessa (30 July 1936 – 5 June 2020) was a Brazilian economist and professor.

Life and career

Born on 30 July 1936, in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, to a wealthy family, Lessa studied at private schools in his native city. In 1959, he graduated in economics at the

Federal University of Rio de Janeiro The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (, UFRJ) is a public university, public research university in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the largest federal university in the country and is one of the Brazilian centers of excellence in teaching and r ...

and later got a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

at Conselho Nacional de Economia. In 1980 he finished his

doctor's degree A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''Licentiate (degree), licentia docendi' ...

Human science Human science (or human sciences in the plural) studies the philosophical, biological, social, justice, and cultural aspects of human life. Human science aims to expand the understanding of the human world through a broad interdisciplinary approa ...

s at

University of Campinas The University of Campinas (), commonly called Unicamp, is a public research university in the state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Brazil. Established in 1962, Unicamp was designed from scratch as an integrated Research institute, researc ...

. Lessa worked as a professor at

and at the Rio Branco Institute, the Brazilian diplomatic graduate school. In 2002, Lessa was elected Rector of the

. It was his post for a brief period of time between July 2002 and March 2003. In 2003, Lessa was appointed President of the

Brazilian Development Bank The National Bank for Economic and Social Development or NBESD (, abbreviated: BNDES) is a development bank structured as a federal public company associated with the Ministry of the Economy of Brazil. The stated goal is to provide long-term fi ...

by Brazilian President

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (; born Luiz Inácio da Silva; 27 October 1945), known Mononym, mononymously as Lula, is a Brazilian politician, trade unionist and former metalworker who has served as the 39th president of Brazil since 2023. A mem ...

. His tenure lasted from January 2003 to November 2004 and his resignation was a result of multiple disagreements over

economic policies ''Economic Policy'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by Oxford Academic on behalf of the Centre for Economic Policy Research, the Center for Economic Studies (University of Munich), and the Paris School of Economics. The jo ...

with

Central Bank of Brazil The Central Bank of Brazil (, ) is Brazil's central bank, the bank is autonomous in exercising its functions, and its main objective is to achieve stability in the purchasing power of the national currency. It was established on Thursday, 31 Dece ...

President Henrique Meirelles and Minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade Luiz Fernando Furlan

Personal life and death

Lessa was a huge fan of

Brazilian Carnival The Carnival of Brazil (, ) is an annual festival held the Friday afternoon before Ash Wednesday at noon, which marks the beginning of Lent, the forty-day period before Easter. During Lent, Roman Catholics and some other Christians traditionally ...

and founded ''Minerva Assanhada'', a

Carnival block Carnival blocks, carnaval blocos or blocos de rua are street bands that mobilize crowds on the streets and are the main popular expression of Brazilian Carnival. These parades fall under the term "street carnival", and happen during a period of ab ...

composed mostly of

students and personnel. Lessa's son, Rodrigo Lessa is a singer-songwriter and Multi-instrumentalist. Lessa died from complications of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

on 5 June 2020, during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil The COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil has resulted in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and deaths. The virus was confirmed to have spread to Brazil on 25 February 2020, when a man from São Paulo who had traveled to Italy tested positive for the virus. ...

at the age of 83.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lessa, Carlos 1936 births 2020 deaths Federal University of Rio de Janeiro alumni 20th-century Brazilian economists 21st-century Brazilian economists People from Rio de Janeiro (city) Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Rio de Janeiro (state) Rectors of universities in Brazil Academic staff of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro