Draft:Antonio Bartolomeu Barbosa

Antonio Bartolomeu Barbosa (February 23, 1927 – July 5, 2023) was a Brazilian businessman, politician and philanthropist. He was best known for being the founder of Bartofil, one of Brazil’s largest wholesale companies. He was the 23rd and 25th mayor and 4th deputy mayor of Ponte Nova, a historical city of Minas Gerais. He was also known for his work to combat the 1979 floods and for his countless social contributions to the Ponte Nova community. He was awarded the Medal of the Order of Legislative Merit by the Legislative Assembly of Minas Gerais in 1987, the Santos-Dumont Merit Medal in 1990 and the Inconfidencia Medal, the highest honor for a Minas Gerais citizen, in 2010. As a result of his philanthropic services, he received the title of "Paul Harris Fellow" from Rotary International in 1997.

Family origins
His family history begins in southern Italy. In 1860, his great-grandparents, Miguel Bartolomeo and Angiola Pataro, married in the town of Latronico. From this union, Antonio Vicenzo Bartolomeo was born. Antonio Vicenzo, in turn, married Leonilda Conti in 1890, who came from a wealthy family. Amid the discomfort caused by the social difference between the families, the couple decided to move to Brazil. At the time, the Brazilian government was adopting policies to encourage immigration, something that encouraged them to choose the country as their future home.

The family had seven children, including Francisco Bartolomeu, father of Antonio Bartolomeu, and Miguel Bartolomeu, founder of Tambasa Atacadistas, another of Brazil's wholesale giants. Another notable descendant of the Bartolomeu family is Eduardo Bartolomeo, current CEO of Vale S.A, Brazil's 3rd largest company by market capitalization.

Beginning of the First Term (1977 and 1978)
Antonio Bartolomeu was elected mayor on November 15, 1976. He won with 6,740 votes, equivalent to 38% of the valid votes, with a lead of 2,860 over the runner-up. He defeated Hasenclever Tavares Andre, Carlos Jardim de Resende and Afranio Felicio da Cunha.

Urban infrastructure projects began in January 1977. As described by Folha de Ponte Nova, "almost all the central corridors have already been paved with blocks, which were made by the Ponte Nova City Hall factory, in a special deference to the Chief Executive, Mr. Antonio Bartolomeu Barbosa". Emergency sanitation work has been carried out in the Palmeiras neighborhood. According to an article published in Folha Jornal Integração on April 4, "All the residents of Rua Caraibas and the surrounding area of the large Palmeiras neighborhood in Ponte Nova are applauding the swift action of Mayor Antonio Bartolomeu, who has begun to solve one of the biggest problems in this densely populated area. It involves the construction of a culvert more than 20 meters long, measuring 1.20 by 1.50 meters, to replace the old 1-meter diameter manholes that were washed away by the recent rains, as well as the entire part of the street that covered them. In fact, the situation in the area was very uneasy, as there were fears of further landslides, since the destructive action of the water had been strongly proven by the complete collapse of this part of Rua Caraíbas. Fearful that new rains of equal force would bring greater inconvenience to the inhabitants, the mayor, Antonio Bartolomeu Barbosa, acted swiftly, and rightly, ordering the pace of the work to be stepped up, despite the fact that its cost was estimated at approximately 100,000 cruzeiros, if we make a rough calculation".

In 1978, engineer José Maurício Pereira was hired for the city's works department. With his help, Antonio was able to complete projects focused on low-income people. Rainwater, drinking water and sewage systems were built, as well as paving in outlying areas and in the then district of Oratorios. With the cooperation of state deputy Domingos Lanna, various projects were planned, executed or started, such as the city's major afforestation plan and the bridge linking the Palmeiras and Triângulo neighborhoods. The latter was made possible when both politicians articulated the state government's support for the project, so that then-governor Aureliano Chaves attended a popular event in the city to sign the authorization to build the bridge.

The flood of 1979
The year was characterized by excessive rainfall. In the first few days of the year, water brought down houses, washed away roads and caused tragedy in the community. The Piranga River, which runs through the town, overflowed, causing even more damage to those who owned property near the riverbed. Soon, the entire town was affected. More than 2,000 homeless people and 23 deaths were reported by the Estado de Minas newspaper in January of that year. Antonio recounts the event in detail: "The town was under water, landslides coming down like avalanches in every corner, knocking down houses and taking them into the river. One night, almost in despair, I phoned Ozanan Coelho, who had taken over the state government, and told him what had happened. He then said to me: 'Mayor, how is your state of mind?' I told him that mine was heavy, to which he replied optimistically and firmly: 'I know the situation is very difficult, but don't waver. If you waver, the community won't stand it. At the time, I was in a complete daze and no matter what I did, the situation was still sad. It was flooding all over the municipality, the city in chaos, the river taking over. Streets disappeared, houses collapsed and others were left hanging in the ravines, rural roads couldn't be used by vehicles, the road to Belo Horizonte was compromised and all of this became a burden that was difficult to carry. I felt the pressure of the community on the verge of moving from demands to revolt. At that moment, the governor's speech reaffirmed my faith in God, and that helped me a lot during that difficult time when I had to have a lot of faith and a willingness to work. The state government made money available, but not as much as we needed, because it needed to help other regions of Minas Gerais affected by the waters. Resources were very limited. During the flood, we didn't stop working to minimize the suffering of the Pontenovense community in any way possible. As the rains subsided, the waters began to recede and we worked day and night to rebuild the city. The urban area resented it because when you could still get across, even if it was on the 'pinguela', that was fine. But when you had to cross and you didn't even have a 'pinguela', then it became difficult. In the beginning, we improvised, because it wasn't possible to build everything that had been destroyed at once; we had to establish criteria, plan and prioritize. For more than four months, I struggled to establish criteria. Without priorities, you don't get anywhere. I brought together the secretariat, some people from the community to set directions and we got to work. Resources began to arrive. The Ozanan Coelho government sent five million at the time. There were around 150 homeless families who were temporarily housed in the Exhibition Park. We had already acquired an area for Cohab to build a housing complex. But, as the situation was an emergency, we got five million, tractors and quickly made an urbanization and took these families to the 127 houses that we built in record time".

As Antonio needed to establish priorities in the reconstruction of the city, generally aimed at the poorest population, other areas that he thought were less urgent received less public money, which generated a lot of criticism from opponents. One of the city's broadcasters complained several times about the condition of his street, which was bumpy and received no attention from the mayor. Tired of hearing this complaint, Marcio Bartholomeu, Antonio's son, called the radio station and said to the broadcaster: "Are you worried about the hole in your street? Don't you realize that there are many people who have nowhere to live?"

Continuation of the First Term (1979–1983)
After mitigating the damage caused by the flood, the mayor has resumed his projects. The Bus Terminal has been extended and new health centers have been built.

Antonio had been elected for a four-year term between 1977 and 1980. However, Constitutional Amendment 14 of 1980 extended the terms of office of the then Mayors, Deputy Mayors, Councillors and Alternates until 1983. It was a political maneuver by the military, who then ran the country under a dictatorship. Thus, with two more years in office, he was able to deliver more projects. Among them, the canalization of the Vau-Açu, the expansion of the municipal asylum, the afforestation of Passa Cinco Park, the supply of treated water to the districts of Fatima, Sao Pedro, Novo Horizonte, Alto Palmeirense and Cidade Nova, the afforestation of the city in general and, in particular, of Avenida Beira-Rio, where imperial palm trees are present today and have become part of the city's visual identity. There were sanitation works, the opening and expansion of schools, the paving of several streets and the creation of the Ponte Nova Industrial District.

In Oratorios, various infrastructure works were carried out. Rainwater drainage, a sewage system, better water quality, paving, and a large square for the church, with a central flowerbed, benches, lawns and a wooded area.

Antonio had a high success rate in getting extra funding from high authorities due to his careful preparation. Whenever he asked for funds, he had already prepared the project and presented it with conviction.

Second term in office (1989–1992)
Antonio went against his family when he ran for office in 1988. Despite admitting the difficulties of the job and the problems that come with it, such as unfair criticism and unfounded accusations, he says that he "felt a calling that he couldn't avoid".

As a member of the Liberal Front Party, he defeated Ademir Ragazzi and João de Carvalho to return to office. The victory was announced by the newspaper O Município de Ponte Nova: "Ponte Nova's politics have taken another turn with Antonio Bartolomeu's return to power. The era of the controversial Sette de Barros is over and the season of the parsimonious Bartolomeu begins. The great disputes and violent fights gave way to negotiations and conciliation". In December 1988, before even taking office, he reduced his salary, an unprecedented act in the country. The act was even included in the Encyclopedia Britannica do Brasil, Events 1989, page 75: "Ponte Nova: mayor asks for his salary to be reduced. An unusual move was made by the mayor of Ponte Nova, in the Zona da Mata, Antonio Bartolomeu Barbosa, 62, elected by the PFL/PTB and PL coalition, with more than two thousand votes ahead of his opponent, Father Ademir Ragazzi; he asked the city council to reduce his salary from Cz$4,000 to Cz$1,200, not only to adapt it to the local reality, but also to alleviate the financial chaos in which the city hall is mired. The council unanimously approved the mayor's request (...) As a successful businessman in the distributor sector, the mayor earns around Cz$10,000 a month from his business and doesn't think he needs any more." When he took over, he found a city hall short of resources, which had recently acquired several unnecessary vehicles. So Antonio decided to auction them off, keeping only one car. Machines and vehicles that were important for carrying out work were found to be inoperable, without parts and scrapped. Faced with this problem, the Ponte Nova business community donated the equivalent of NCz$4.5 million, corresponding to R$89,101.51 in April 2023. This made it possible to recover a large part of the vehicles.

Another problem inherited from the previous administration was the salary increase granted to government agents, ranging from 50% to 150%.

The country's economy was destroyed in the midst of the Collor Plan, and the city's relationship with the state government was more difficult, since Newton Cardoso, then governor, was Domingos Lanna's rival.

Even with so many adversities, projects were carried out in the city in the areas of the environment, education, health and infrastructure. Electricity was brought to rural areas that didn't yet have it, with more than 60 streetlights installed in rural areas and another 26 in urban areas. Education was a priority, receiving more than the 25% required by law. The area of culture was also valued, and Bartolomeu resumed holding MPB festivals with big names in Brazilian music, such as Milton Nascimento, Joao Bosco and 20 other nationally renowned artists. He also preserved the city's history by listing important Ponte Nova landmarks, including the Hotel Gloria.

Death
Antonio Bartolomeu died on July 5, 2023, at 8:10 am, in Ponte Nova. He was hospitalized at the Nossa Senhora das Dores Hospital, the hospital of which he was vice-provider, benefactor and member of the managing Brotherhood.

The then honorary chairman of Bartofil's Board of Directors died of heart failure, respiratory failure and pneumonia.

Tribute
His body was mourned at Ponte Nova Town Hall, and it is estimated that around a thousand people attended. After the wake, there was a long procession to the Municipal Cemetery, during which his coffin was carried above a fire truck. Long applause was heard as he passed in front of the Bartofil office. Wherever he went, he was greeted with flowers and applause.

The executive and legislative branches of Ponte Nova decreed three days of official mourning in his honor. The day after his death, during the 48th ordinary meeting of the 1st ordinary legislative session of the 20th legislature of the Legislative Assembly of Minas Gerais, at the request of state deputy Adriano Alvarenga, a minute's silence was held in Bartolomeu's honor.

His project to plant trees along the banks of the Piranga River in Beira-rio in 1980, which became part of the municipality's identity, was renamed, according to Municipal Law No. 4.733 of October 6, 2023, the Antonio Bartolomeu Forest.

Another of his projects, the Ponte Nova Ring Road, is also to be named in his honor. State deputy Thiago Cota proposed Bill 1.374/2023, which aims to name the ring road the Anel Rodoviário Prefeito Antonio Bartolomeu.