Ernesto Igel (27 November 1893 – 24 January 1966) was an

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ** Austria-Hungary ** Austria ...

entrepreneur and founder of the company Empresa Brasileira de Gáz a Domilicio Ltda, the first Brazilian gas distribution network of fuel for cooking equipment (LPG). In 1938, the company changed its name to Ultragaz S.A. Through Ultragaz's growth and the creation of new companies, Ernesto Igel founded

Ultra Ultra may refer to: Science and technology * Ultra (cryptography), the codename for cryptographic intelligence obtained from signal traffic in World War II * Adobe Ultra, a vector-keying application * Sun Ultra series, a brand of computer work ...

, also known as Ultrapar.

Early life

Born to a family of merchants in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, Austria, Igel was the eldest of five children. At 15, he got his first job at an import-export company. At 21, he was drafted to the Austrian army to fight in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He was sent to

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, where he served as a management assistant.

Career

After the war, Igel moved to Brazil in 1920, when he was 26 years old. He then established the company Ernesto Igel & Cia., an importer of tableware, sanitary metals, stoves and heaters for use with pipeline gas. During his trips to Europe, Igel got to work with the then-new gas bottling technology for domestic use. On 30 August 1937, Igel founded Empresa Brasileira de Gáz a Domicílio Ltda. The following year, in September 1938, the company's IPO set the start of Ultragaz S.A. After that, the company extended its operations and began to conduct business throughout Brazil.

Personal life

Igel married Margaret Hartman, also Austrian, with whom he had two children,

Pery Pery may refer to: People Associated with the Earldom of Limerick * William Pery, 1st Baron Glentworth (1721–1794), Anglican Bishop of Limerick, Ardfert and Aghadoe * Edmund Pery, 1st Earl of Limerick, politician, fervent unionist * William Pe ...

and Daisy Igel. The businessman headed the administration of their companies until 1959, when he named his son, Pery Igel, as the new head of Ultragaz.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Igel, Ernesto 1893 births 1966 deaths Businesspeople from Vienna 20th-century Brazilian businesspeople Austrian expatriates in Brazil Igel family