Eugenio Mendoza Goiticoa (

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

, November 13, 1906, Caracas, October 17, 1979) was a

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

n business tycoon who made important contributions in the modernization of the country during the 20th Century.

Early life

He was the son of Eugenio Mendoza Cobeña (the grandson of Venezuela's first president,

Cristóbal Mendoza José Cristóbal Hurtado de Mendoza y Montilla (23 June 1772 – 8 February 1829), commonly known as Cristóbal Mendoza, was a Venezuelan lawyer, politician, writer, and academic. Cristobal is best known for serving as the first official List o ...

) and Luisa Goiticoa (the great-granddaughter of

Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24July 178317December 1830) was a Venezuelan statesman and military officer who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bol ...

's sister, Juana Bolívar). Despite his family's historical position he grew up in modest circumstances due to the monetary sacrifices made by his family during the war for Venezuelan independence and later the Venezuelan civil war. Along with his brothers, Pedro, Carlos, and Eduardo Mendoza Goiticoa, he was a descendant of

's sister, Juana Bolívar (Simón Bolívar had no children). Eugenio married Luisa Rodriguez Planas in 1938, and had four children with her: Eugenio Andres, Gertrudis, Luisa Elena and Eugenio Antonio. One son, Eugenio Andres, drowned as a youngster.

Business career

Eugenio Mendoza was the fourth son of seven children, he had four brothers and two sisters and was the only one who did not pursue a university education, choosing instead to go into business by starting his first company at the age of eighteen. In partnership with Moises Miranda he founded “Moisés Miranda & Cía” a firm to sell construction materials. By January 1932, he purchased Miranda’s shares, becoming the sole owner of the company today known as “Materiales Mendoza” ”. During the following years, he founded "Maquinarias Mendoza" a heavy equipment company. He held negotiations with

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest ranking office in the Executive branch of the United States government, executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks f ...

Henry A. Wallace Henry Agard Wallace (October 7, 1888 – November 18, 1965) was the 33rd vice president of the United States, serving from 1941 to 1945, under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He served as the 11th U.S. secretary of agriculture and the 10th U.S ...

, the U.S State Department and

Nelson Rockefeller Nelson Aldrich "Rocky" Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979) was the 41st vice president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford. He was also the 49th governor of New York, serving from 1959 to 197 ...

to commercialize construction materials in Venezuela. By that time, all construction supplies were destined to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. By 1943, he had created "Venezolana de Cementos" which became the largest supplier of cement in the country. Vencemos had plants in

Barquisimeto Barquisimeto (; ) is a city in Venezuela. Barquisimeto is located in the Central-Western Region, Venezuela. It is the capital of the state of Lara (state), Lara and head of Iribarren Municipality. It is an important urban, industrial, commercial a ...

Maracaibo Maracaibo ( , ; ) is a city and municipality in northwestern Venezuela, on the western shore of the strait that connects Lake Maracaibo to the Gulf of Venezuela. It is the largest city in Venezuela and is List of cities in Venezuela by population ...

, Pertigalete,

Macuro Macuro, a town in Venezuela, located a few miles from Bocas del Dragón, is a small fishing town overlooking a peaceful bay on the south-west side of the Paria peninsula, in Sucre state, Venezuela. Macuro has the historical distinction of being ...

and Catia La Mar. Also, in the following years he conformed "Protinal", dedicated to the production of animal feed which later became the pioneer in the development of poultry as a low cost substitute for protein; "Venezolana de Pinturas" and "Venezolana de Pulpa y Papel". His business organization, "El Grupo Mendoza" became the largest industrial conglomerate in the 1970s encompassing everything from cement, construction, heavy machinery, paint, paper mills, animal feed, poultry, banking, and insurance to car manufacturing today known as

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

of Venezuela.

Public service

At the age of 34, Eugenio Mendoza was appointed Minister of Industry Promotion during

Isaías Medina Angarita Isaías Medina Angarita (6 July 1897 – 15 September 1953) was a Venezuelan military and politician who served as President of Venezuela from 1941 until 1945, during World War II. He followed the path of his predecessor Eleazar López Contre ...

’s presidency in Venezuela (1941-1945).

Arturo Uslar Pietri Arturo Uslar Pietri (16 May 1906 in Caracas – 26 February 2001) was a Venezuelan intellectual, historian, writer, television producer, and politician. Life Born on 16 May 1906 in Caracas, Venezuela, his parents were generalSantos Himiob ( ...

and Lorenzo Mendoza Fleury were also part of Medina Angarita’s cabinet; Uslar Pietri as Secretary of the Presidency and Mendoza Fleury as Philadelphia’s Consul and later as Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations. These group promoted the industrialization in Venezuela, favoring the development of the country. In 1958 was appointed as minister of rear admiral Wolfgang Larrazabal’s cabinet following the overthrow of

Marcos Pérez Jiménez Marcos Evangelista Pérez Jiménez (25 April 1914 – 20 September 2001) was a Venezuelan military officer and the dictator of Venezuela from 1950 to 1958, ruling as member of the military junta from 1950 to 1952 and as president from 1952 t ...

on 23 January 1958.

Philanthropy

He founded the "Fundación Mendoza" which led the philanthropic community of Venezuela for two decades primarily focusing on the founding of "Hospital Ortopedico Infantil" the largest children's hospital in Latin America and numerous schools. In 1970, he founded the

Universidad Metropolitana The Metropolitan University () (Unimet) is a Venezuelan university founded in 1970 by a group of entrepreneurs led by Eugenio Mendoza Goiticoa in the terrains donated by the businessman Pius Schlageter, father of the Venezuelan painter Eduard ...

, a private university located in Caracas, which became the most important passion of his later years. It was the first Venezuelan university to offer careers in business management and finance. It remains one of the most prestigious private universities in Venezuela. Today, their three children and grandchildren continue the business and philanthropic work of "El Grupo Mendoza" and "Fundación Mendoza".

References

External links

Mendoza Foundation - Official Website

PDF biblioteca
; accessed 20 May 2014 {{DEFAULTSORT:Mendoza, Eugenio 1906 births 1979 deaths Businesspeople from Caracas 20th-century Venezuelan businesspeople Industry ministers of Venezuela