Mário Henrique Simonsen

Mário Henrique Simonsen (19 February 1935 – 9 February 1997) was a Brazilian economist, who served as Brazil's finance minister from 1974 to 1979.^[1]

Mário Henrique Simonsen
Minister of Finance
In office 15 March 1974 – 15 March 1979
President	Ernesto Geisel
Preceded by	José Flávio Pécora
Succeeded by	Karlos Rischbieter
Minister of Planning
In office 15 March 1979 – 10 August 1979
President	João Figueiredo
Preceded by	Reis Veloso
Succeeded by	Golbery do Couto e Silva
Personal details
Born	(1935-02-19)19 February 1935 Rio de Janeiro, Federal District, Brazil
Died	9 February 1997(1997-02-09) (aged 61) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Profession	Engineer, banker, economist

Simonsen was appointed Brazil's finance minister by President Ernesto Geisel with instructions to reduce the country's runaway inflation rate.

Despite Simonsen's efforts, the official inflation rate had risen to 40% per annum in 1979 and he was shifted to Planning Minister.

He was succeeded by Antonio Delfim Netto, with whom he had an uneasy relationship due to the latter's inclination to increase borrowing, and hence inflation.

Simonsen resigned from Cabinet in 1980 and became a director of Citicorp, a position he held until 1995 when he was forced by ill-health to retire. He was a chronic heavy smoker and suffered from emphysema.

Other interests

Simonsen was an excellent baritone and an opera aficionado.

Family

He was married to Iluska Pereira da Cunha Simonsen. Thy had two sons and a daughter.

See also

• Portuguese Wikipedia entry