Jerônimo Rodrigues Souza (born 3 April 1965) is a Brazilian

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

, and

bureaucrat A bureaucrat is a member of a bureaucracy and can compose the administration of any organization of any size, although the term usually connotes someone within an institution of government. The term ''bureaucrat'' derives from "bureaucracy", wh ...

who was elected Governor of Bahia in 2022 election. Winning against

ACM Neto ACM or A.C.M. may refer to: Aviation * AGM-129 ACM, 1990–2012 USAF cruise missile * Air chief marshal * Air combat manoeuvring or dogfighting * Air cycle machine * IATA airport code for Arica Airport in Amazonas Department, Colombia Computing ...

in an upset, Jerônimo, a professor at

State University of Feira de Santana The State University of Feira de Santana (, UEFS) is a public institution of higher education in Brazil, based in the city of Feira de Santana, Bahia. Until the 1990s, it was also the only university in this city. Currently, the university has ...

, became the first self declared indigenous governor in the

history of Brazil Before the arrival of the Europeans, the lands that now constitute Brazil were occupied, fought over and settled by diverse tribes. Thus, the history of Brazil begins with the indigenous people in Brazil. The Portuguese arrived to the land tha ...

. He previously served as an advisor in technology to Governor

Jaques Wagner Jaques Wagner (; born 16 March 1951) is a Brazilian politician who was Governor of Bahia from 2007 to 2015 and Minister of Defence in 2015. Wagner, whose parents were Jewish immigrants from Poland, was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1951. In his yout ...

, as an advisor to the Rousseff government, and as head of multiple ministries in the government of

Rui Costa Rui Manuel César Costa (; born 29 March 1972) is a Portuguese former professional footballer who is the 34th president of sports club S.L. Benfica. He also succeeded Luís Filipe Vieira as president of the club's SAD board of directors. ...

, rising through the ranks of governmental management. He is a member of the

Workers' Party Workers' Party is a name used by several political parties throughout the world. The name has been used by both organisations on the left and right of the political spectrum. It is currently used by followers of Marxism, Marxism–Leninism, Maoism ...

Early life

Born in Palmeirinha, a village in the municipality of

Aiquara Aiquara is a municipality in the state of Bahia in the North-East region of Brazil. See also *List of municipalities in Bahia This is a list of the municipalities in the state of Bahia (BA), located in the Northeast Region of Brazil. Bahia ...

, to Zeferino Rodrigues, a farmer, and Maria Cerqueira, a seamstress, Jerônimo attended public school in

Jequié Jequié is a city in the state of Bahia, Brazil. Jequié is 365 km away from Salvador Salvador, meaning "salvation" (or "saviour") in Catalan, Spanish, and Portuguese may refer to: * Salvador (name) Arts, entertainment, and media Musi ...

and received a masters degree in

rural development Rural development is the process of improving the quality of life, quality of life and economic well-being of people living in rural areas, often relatively isolated and sparsely populated areas. Often, rural regions have experienced rural povert ...

from the

Federal University of Bahia The Federal University of Bahia (, UFBA) is a public university located mainly in the city of Salvador. It is the largest university in the state of Bahia. Students can study there without paying tuition fees, as it is a public university. To j ...

in 1991.

Bureaucratic career

Academic career

Jerônimo was accepted to a graduate program at the

. He taught several subjects to undergraduates including Economic Sciences, Accounting Sciences, Law, Administration and Geography. After finishing graduate school, he returned to

where he was professor at the Colégio Municipal Américo Souto and an advisor to the mayor in agricultural planning. During this period, through student movements, he began to be affiliated with the

largely in opposition to the 'Carlism' of

Antônio Carlos Magalhães Antônio Carlos Peixoto de Magalhães (4 September 1927 – 20 July 2007), also known by his initials ACM, was a Brazilian politician. He served as Governor of Bahia three times and represented Bahia in the Senate of Brazil three times. Magalhãe ...

. Jerônimo, after participating in his campaign for governor, was appointed by

an advisor to the Secretariat of Science, Technology and Innovation of Bahia in 2007, before becoming a member of the strategic division of the Secretariat of Planning.

National career

After the success of his work and his experience in agricultural economics, he was recommended by Wagner to

Dilma Rousseff Dilma Vana Rousseff (; born 14 December 1947) is a Brazilian economist and politician who served as the 36th president of Brazil from 2011 until her impeachment and removal from office on 31 August 2016. She is the only woman to have held the ...

who appointed him to various agricultural and planning positions, serving as National Secretary for Territorial Development, special advisor to the Ministry of Agrarian Development, executive secretary of the Pro Territories/Cumbre Ibero-American Program and executive secretary of the National Council for Sustainable Rural Development.

State secretariats

After coordinating Rui Costa's campaign for governor, Jerônimo helped create the Secretariat of Rural Development, which he headed from 2015-2018. After coordinating Costa's

landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, rockslips or rockslides, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, mudflows, shallow or deep-seated slope failures and debris flows. Landslides ...

reelection, he was appointed Secretary of Education.

Secretary of Education

As one of the main state secretaries of the new PT administration, Jerônimo had carte blanche to carry out an investment of R$3.5 billion in public schools. His management focused on offering thousands of vacancies in vocational courses through the Educar para Trabalho program. During the Covid-19 pandemic, amidst the children's learning difficulties, the secretary created two programs to combat school dropout: the Bolsa-Presença, which offered monthly aid of 150 reals to families of students from the state education network ,and Mais Futuro, whose objective was to keep young people in the university with financial support. It also implemented the Student Food Voucher and Mais Estudos.

Governor of Bahia

2022 election

Jerônimo had the problem of introducing himself to Bahia, as he had largely been a hiden political actor. Slowly gaining in the polls against the former mayor of

Salvador Salvador, meaning "salvation" (or "saviour") in Catalan, Spanish, and Portuguese may refer to: * Salvador (name) Arts, entertainment, and media Music *Salvador (band), a Christian band that plays both English and Spanish music ** ''Salvador'' ( ...

, Jerônimo combined support for

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 ...

in the

2022 Brazilian presidential election General elections were held in Brazil on 2 October 2022 to elect the president, vice president, the National Congress, the governors, vice governors, and legislative assemblies of all federative units, and the district council of Fernando de ...

with generally rural Catholic support for the PT. Some pointed to a two rallies with Lula as a tipping point in public support after Neto's race scandals. Winning close to 50% in the first round, Jerônimo's victory was considered an upset. He beat Neto in the second round.

Personal life

Jerônimo is married to Tatiana Velloso, a professor at Federal University of Recôncavo Baiano, and has one son. Jerônimo is self declared indigenous and

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

References

External links

* * * * * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodrigues, Jerônimo Federal University of Bahia alumni Living people 1965 births Governors of Bahia Workers' Party (Brazil) politicians Brazilian economists Agronomists Brazilian politicians of indigenous peoples descent Brazilian Roman Catholics Indigenous Brazilian people