User:Arioca/sandbox/Alberto Nasser

Alberto Nasser
Alberto Nasser Adjmi was a Syrian Brazilian businessman, industrialist, philanthropist, activist and a Jewish community leader. In the 1970s he was responsible for recovering the local Community Fund of Rio de Janeiro, which at the time was completely abandoned. He revealed a new generation of Jewish leaders whose work is evident and stamped in the Jewish Community of Rio de Janeiro until present time. The biggest expression of his work with the Jewish youth from Rio was the cultural revolution, from customs, methods and attitudes that occurred at the Rio de Janeiro Israeli Federation (FIERJ), since 1983 with Ronaldo Gomlevsky in its presidency. Along with Milton Nahon, Marek Melamed, Jorge Josef and many others who worked and learned with Nasser, a new form of managing Jewish topics was born. With the help of Nasser, they gave example to other Israeli Brazilian Federations, besides paving the road for the Jewish Confederation of Brazil (CONIB) itself.

Family Background / Early Life and Education
Alberto Nasser was born in Aleppo in December 31, 1931. The youngest of seven siblings, his parents Haron Nasser and Marie Adjmi were born in Şanlıurfa, whom after marriage migrated to Syria due to greater business opportunities. His household was of traditional Arab Jews religious values, having his initial studies at the Talmud Torah School, and later the Lycée Français d'Alep (French High School of Aleppo). After the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon ended, when French schools were forced to close down, he continued studying at the Aleppo American College. In November of 1947, at the age of sixteen, he escaped Syria due to the end of such mandate, when it became extremely unsafe for Jewish people to reside in that country due to religious intolerance from the Syrian government. On their way to Beirut, his family where stopped at Hama where his parents, sister, and him were arrested for simply being Jews. After departing from the Middle East, the Nasser family went to live in Milan and Alberto moved to England to study Economics at the University of London. After a few years, his parents moved to Israel where his father passed away.

Business Career
After spending three years living in Bogotá, in 1954 Nasser moved to Rio de Janeiro after immediately liking the country; becoming a Brazilian citizen in 1959. Brazil had an open market with plenty of opportunities, specially in coffee export and other import businesses. Early on, Nasser developed Brasilo Americana S.A., a business dedicated in importing raw material, specially non-ferrous metals to supply Brazilian factories. In 1956 he founded IDMA (Indústria de Material Acrílico), later becoming one of the leading plastic manufacturing factories in Brazil with over 800 employees and affiliates all over the country. In 1989, he was elected “Man of the Year” by the Brazilian Petrochemical Syndicate (Sindicato Petroquímico do Brasil). During the mid 1980s he was the president of the Brazilian Laminated Plastics and Flexible Foams Industries Association (Associação Brasileira da Indústria de Laminados Plásticos e Espuma Flexíveis, ABRAPLA).

Marriage and Family
In August 6, 1966, Nasser was married in Buenos Aires to Alicia Tobal, having two children: Maria Pia (born May 15, 1973) and Ariel (born May 24, 1975) who were born in Rio de Janeiro.

Philanthropy, Activism and World Jewish Leadership
In 1973, after the Yom Kippur War, Alberto Nasser initiated his community activities. He was elected president of the Community Fund of Rio de Janeiro in 1975, where he implemented a revolutionary innovative project called “Rio System” that was later used by the Keren Hayesod towards others Jewish communities in the World due to the highly organized structural efficiency. Three years later, in 1978 he was elected as a member of the prestigious Board of Governors / The Jewish Agency in Jerusalem. At this position, Nasser was the first Brazilian ever to represent for South America. He also became part of the Board of Trustees of Keren Hayesod. In 1987, Nasser was elected Vice President of the World Sephardi Federation at the World Jewish Congress in Jerusalem. During those years, his greatest satisfaction was accomplished after a successful fund raising campaign that provided scholarships to 2,500 Sephardic students, from the smallest Israeli communities to study at Israeli Universities. This accomplishment benefited the State of Israel and helped narrowing the gap of unfair economical opportunities in Israel towards unprivileged Sephardi communities. Nasser became the link between Brazilian and Israeli diplomats, ambassadors, politicians, and religious personalities often meeting with Mordechai Eliyahu, Shimon Peres and his personal friend Yitzhak Rabin. In 1990, Nasser was elected Chairman of Board of Governors from the World Sephardi Federation. In 1991, Nasser developed the Sephardi Federation of Brazil (FESEBRA), and was elected as its president in 1992. With the collaboration of worldwide Jewish leaders, he coordinated the events in memorial of the 500 years of the Jewish expulsion from the Iberian Peninsula. In 1991, Nasser was responsible for organizing the Jewish-Sephardi Brazilian Committee, where former President of Brazil, José Sarney, was honor president of the event. In November of the same year, Nasser was elected the [1] president of the Jewish Confederation of Brazil (CONIB), and reelected in 1994 until 1997. During his mandate Nasser was responsible for giving assistance prioritizing smaller Jewish communities from Brazilian states which lacked funds for schools, synagogues and other Jewish institutions. With the approval and consent of other Brazilian Jewish Confederations, he changed the governmental structure of the Jewish Confederation of Brazil (CONIB) by not allowing its president to go over two consecutive mandates. He published “Integraçāo” (Integration), a national monthly newsletter implemented to inform about the Jewish Confederation of Brazil (CONIB) activities to not only members of the Jewish Brazilian community, as well as the authorities and personalities of national life. During that period, the Jewish Confederation of Brazil (CONIB) placed a Memorial Plaque in honor of Brazilian Ambassador to the UN, Osvaldo Aranha, at Aranha Square in Jerusalem. Other distinguished accomplishments during Nasser’s presidency were the promotion and celebration of several Jewish holidays and traditions, the increased development and support towards Jewish schools, a strong political representation in the Brazilian federal government, reverting the decision from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to shut down the Israeli Consulate in Rio de Janeiro, and a strong combat against Antisemitism and Nazism in Brazil. In 1995, Nasser became a member of the executive of Latin American Jewish Congress, and a few years after he became the president of the entity. In April 30, 1995, Nasser represented the Latin American Jewish Congress and Jewish Confederation of Brazil (CONIB) at the World Jewish Congress Dinner in New York City, organized by Edgar Bronfman Sr. who received the President of the United States of America, Bill Clinton.

Personal Life
Nasser was friends with ministers, governors, mayors, and chiefs of States in the Americas, Europe and Israel, yet he remained humble throughout his entire lifetime and treated everyone with respect no matter the person’s ethnicity, religion, age, gender, education level, job position, or social status. Nasser went through many adversities during his youth; it could be observed that throughout his life, he always preserved his Jewish identity. He was a man of noble habits, always preserving family, friendship, loyalty, truth and the good character of his interlocutors. He was an extremely generous person not only with the worldwide Jewish community but also with his family, relatives, and friends. After successfully established himself in Rio de Janeiro with IDMA (Indústria de Material Acrílico), he was responsible for financially supporting the lives of four of his older married brothers and sisters along their children in Brazil. Nasser often contributed in charity to synagogues and nursing homes. He was extremely communicative and spoke seven languages fluently: Arabic, Hebrew, English, French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese. He was a high level Backgammon and Bridge player, having played along and against the 1989 World Contract Bridge Team Championship for the N.E.C. Bermuda Bowl Champions Gabriel Chagas, Marcelo Branco, Roberto Mello, Pedro Branco, Carlos Camacho and Ricardo Janz from Rio de Janeiro. His favorite vacation spot was Punta del Este where he spent most of his summers with his family.

Health
In September 30, 2010, Nasser moved to Buenos Aires with his wife Alicia. In 2013, he was diagnosed with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy; later requiring nursing care. After receiving treatment for many years, he passed away in his apartment from Acute Decompensated Heart Failure in June 21, 2016. He was buried at Colinas del Tiempo Cemetery in Buenos Aires in June 22, 2016.

2016 Alberto Nasser Mini Olympic Games
In June 31, 2016 the Rio de Janeiro Israeli Federation (FIERJ) organized the “Alberto Nasser Mini Olympic Games” (Mini Olimpíadas Alberto Nasser) for children, parents, family and friends of the local Jewish Community. His daughter Maria Pia Nasser and husband Jadir Carvalho attended with his grandsons Tathiana (14 years old) and Michel (11 years old ) who participated in the sports events. The memorial was held at the Centro Adolpho Bloch in Rio de Janeiro.

Awards, Honors & Recognitions
“Linholene” and “Korino” were IDMA (Industria de Material Acrílico) plastic products which brand names became a Brazilian Portuguese metonymy due to high popularity in the market. “Parece linho, mas é Linholene” (It looks like linen, but it’s Linholene) was a famous Brazilian slogan from commercials in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

“1989 Man of the Year” by the Sindicato Petroquímico do Brasil (Brazilian Petrochemical Syndicate).

Premio Príncipe de Asturias 1990 de la Concordia a Comunidades Sefardíes, October 18, 1990, Oviedo, Capital del Principado de Asturias.

In 1990 Alberto Nasser offered a dinner reception for Mordechai Tzemach Eliyahu, Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, at his apartment in Rio de Janeiro.

Câmara Municipal do Rio de Janeiro: Título de Cidadāo Honorário do Município do Rio de Janeiro, August 8, 1994, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Assembléia Legislativa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro: Título de Benemérito do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, October 11, 1994, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

El Congreso Judío Latinoamericano (Latin American Jewish Congress): Recognition of Distinguished Contribution of Continental Jewish Leadership - December of 1996, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

In 1996, President of Brazil Fernando Henrique Cardoso received Alberto Nasser at Itamaraty Palace for his accomplishments towards the Jewish Community in Brazil.