José Mindlin
Encyclopedia
José Ephim Mindlin was a Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

ian lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

, businessperson
Businessperson
A businessperson is someone involved in a particular undertaking of activities for the purpose of generating revenue from a combination of human, financial, or physical capital. An entrepreneur is an example of a business person...

 and bibliophile
Bibliophilia
Bibliophilia or bibliophilism is the love of books. Accordingly a bibliophile is an individual who loves books. A bookworm is someone who loves books for their content, or who otherwise loves reading. The -ia-suffixed form "bibliophilia" is sometimes considered to be an incorrect usage; the older...

, born to Ukrainian Jewish parents. He was the owner of the largest private library in Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages  – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

, with more than 38,000 titles. A large number (about half) of the collection was donated to the University of São Paulo
University of São Paulo
Universidade de São Paulo is a public university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. It is the largest Brazilian university and one of the country's most prestigious...

 in May 2006, mostly regarding Brazilian studies. A building will be built in the university's campus specifically to maintain this massive library, and will be named after the Guita and José Mindlin Foundation, who made the donation. Mindlin had said he wants to keep the library alive through the continuous growth of the collection and scientific contributions by academics.

Son of dentist Ephim Mindlin and of Fanny Mindlin, both born in Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...

, he graduated from the University of São Paulo law school. He worked as a lawyer for 15 years, until he founded with some friends Metal Leve, an automobile piston company, which went on to become a large international player in the automobile parts industry. After years of successful management of the firm as a Director, the opening of the Brazilian markets in the 1990s has reduced Metal Leve's profits, and he and his business associates had to sell the firm in 1996 to German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 firm Mahle Group.

After retiring from the business world, Mindlin was able to dedicate his time to a passion he had since he was 13: collecting and preserving rare books. The first rare edition in his collection was Discours sur l'Histoire universelle, by Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet was a French bishop and theologian, renowned for his sermons and other addresses. He has been considered by many to be one of the most brilliant orators of all time and a masterly French stylist....

, published in 1740.

In 20 June 2006, Mindlin was elected member of the Academia Brasileira de Letras
Academia Brasileira de Letras
Academia Brasileira de Letras is a Brazilian literary non-profit society established at the end of the 19th century by a group of 40 writers and poets inspired by the Académie Française. The first president, Machado de Assis, declared its foundation on December 15, 1896, with the statutes being...

, occupying chair number 29, left open since the death of Brazilian author Josué Montello.

He was also a member of the Vitae Foundation and is the editor of Edusp publishing firm.

Mindlin was married to Guita Mindlin, who died in 2006, and they had 4 children and 11 grandchildren.

He died from a multiple organ failure at the age of 95 on February 28, 2010.

External links

Articles of Incorporation of the Guita and José Mindlin Library
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