wais:BRAZIL: Percival Farquhar January 2005

BRAZIL: Percival Farquhar

I had an agreement with the University of Brasília Press to publish a Portuguese translation of the biography of Percival Farquhar by Charles Gauld. Then I received a letter saying that the translation was complete, but that the press did not have enough money to print it. I wondered if the reason was not really nationalism, since there were wild rumors that the US planned to take over Amazonia, where Farquhar's enterprises were located. My suspicion would seem to be justified by an article David Fleischer has sent me on the TV series in which Tony Ramos plays the part of Farquhar. The article is titled " "Tony's Villain was a Titan", the epithet used in the title of Gauld's book.

The title of the novel by Marcio de Souza and of the TV series is "Mad Maria", which in itself is derogatory. The article does not attribute the recent anti-Farequhar feeling only to nationalists but to the socialists led by President Lula da Silva. Nationalists and socialists fight, but they agree in hating Farquhar, whose achievements the article praises, calling him the greatest entrepreneur in Brazilian history. It says Gauld's book is very rare, and that "there appears to be" a translation held by the University of Brasília. If "God is Brazilian", as the saying goes, the translation will be published. For more about Farquhar , see
: www.geocities.com/Area51/Realm/7805/ <http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Realm/7805/> efmm-percival.htm
For the construction of theMadeira-Mamoré railway, see Trem Fantasma, by Francisco Foot Hardman.

David Fleischer sends this

Guide to the Percival Farquhar Papers

(Manuscript Group 205)

Manuscripts and Archives Staff

Yale University Library, Manuscripts and Archives,

Copyright © Yale University Library, New Haven, Connecticut, December 1999
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Overview

Creator:
Farquhar, Percival, 1864-1953.

Title:
Percival Farquhar papers

Date(s):
1893-1967

Quantity:
7.50 linear ft.

Acknowledgements:
Gift of Charles Gauld, 1962, 1965-1967.

Note:
The papers are in English and Spanish.

Preferred Citation:
Percival Farquhar Papers. Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library.

Summary:
The papers consist of the business files and correspondence of Percival Farquhar. They document his role in the economic development of Brazil, in particular the Itabira Iron Ore Company. Correspondents include mining engineer Alexander Malozemoff, businessmen J. F. Trippet and Alexander MacKenzie, and aide J. Armstrong Read. Also included in the papers are the research materials used by Charles Gauld, Farquhar's biographer, in the writing of The Last Titan: Percival Farquhar, American Entrepreneur in Latin America.

Biographical Overview:

Percival Farquhar was born in York, Pennsylvania on October 19, 1864. He graduated from Yale College in 1884 and joined his father's New York based export company, which shipped machinery to Latin America. In 1885, Farquhar studied law briefly at Columbia Law School. After serving as an assemblyman in the New York state legislature from 1890 to 1892, he joined a friend's company developing electric railroads and real estate in New Jersey. In 1898, Farquhar began a long career of financial operations in Latin America to modernize tramways. From 1907 to 1914, he directed his attention and resources to the improvement of the ports and railroads of Brazil, in particular, the Madeira-Mamoré Railway and the Port of Para. He also established the Brazil Railway Company. From 1919 to 1941, Farquhar managed the Itabira project, designed to revive the Itabira Iron Ore Company and to build a railway to a new port near Vitória. Thwarted by nationalistic opposition and financial losses, the Itabira project did not succeed in his lifetime. Farquhar died in New York City on August 4, 1953.

Catalog Record:
Guide to the Percival Farquhar Papers (Manuscript Group 205)

For further information:
Manuscripts and Archives
Yale University Library
P.O. Box 208240
New Haven, CT 06520-8240
Tel. (203) 432-1744
Fax. (203) 432-7441
mssa.assist@yale.edu

Inventory

The papers consist primarily of business records from various companies with which Percival Farquhar was involved. The files attest to Farquhar's entrepreneurial ambitions in Brazil and those for the Itabira Iron Ore Company/Itabira Railway are particularly voluminous. The business papers are arranged alphabetically by company name and may contain correspondence; memoranda; reports; surveys; legal and financial documents; and related items. Farquhar's original arrangement of papers has been maintained. Correspondence with family members, listed alphabetically, is both personal and professional in nature, as Farquhar's family participated in his business ventures. There is also a small amount of memorabilia and photographs. Papers relating to Charles Gauld contain interviews, correspondence, research notes, and drafts compiled for the biography of Farquhar. Unpublished biographical material by Vivaldo Coaracy is also included in the papers.

Contents   Box   Folder

Farquhar, Percival
Autobiography ["Notas Autobiográficas"]   1936   1   1
Business papers
General [primarily negotiations with lenders to raise capital]   1928-1943   1   2-5
Brazil Railway Company   1901-1946, 1956   1   6-14
Brazil Railway Company   1932-1943   2   15-22
Brazilian Iron Ore Company   1940   2   23
International Products Corporation   1931-1942   2   24-28
Itabira Iron Ore Company/Itabira Railway
   1919-1930 Apr   3   29-41
   1930 May-1940 Apr   4   42-57
   1940 May-1944 Sep   5   58-71
   1919-1945   6   72-85
   1920-1942   7   86-97
   1920-1943   8   98-111
   1920-1946, 1954, 1963   9   112-124
   1919-1953, n.d.   10   125-136
   1922-1947   11   137-150
   1911, 1920-1953   12   151-163
   1921-1954, 1963   13   164-179
   1927-1953   14   180-198
   1933-1943, 1954, 1963   15   199-205
   1938   15   206
Madeira-Mamoré Railway   1937-1951   15   207
Port of Para   1906-1943   15   208-211
Rio de Janeiro Tramway Light and Power Company   1935-1954   15   212
Correspondence
General, 1893   1929-1953   16   213-215
Coaracy, Vivaldo [includes partial draft of unfinished biography of Farquhar]   1943, n.d.   16   216
Farquhar, Cathya [wife]   1942-1943   16   217
Farquhar, Donald [son]   1939-1953   16   218-221
Farquhar, Francis [brother]   1932-1944, 1951, n.d.   16   222
Farquhar, George [son]   1930-1939   16   223-236
Farquhar, George [son]   1940-1951   17   237-241
Farquhar, Gordon [son]   1942-1948   17   242
Gomes, Olivo   1942-1951   17   243-244
Memorabilia   1920, 1929, 1940-1945   17   245
Photographs/negatives [includes Farquhar, Itabira]   1913, 1929-[194?], 1950, n.d.   17   246-247
Gauld, Charles [correspondence, writings, and research materials, pertaining to the biography of Percival Farquhar]   1915-1967   18   248-267
Oversize

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Ronald Hilton 2004

last updated: February 10, 2005