With the recent “discovery” of a lost movie describing the success of the textile industry in Brazil for the family of Guilherme Giorgi, I decided to “get the story straight”. I had several conversations with my parents, aunts, and uncles asking about “the old man” (their grandfather), and ask for details of Guilherme’s life. Slowly a story emerged describing how a family in northern Italy decided to look for better fortunes in the new continent , leaving Lucca, Italy, and immigrating to Sao Paulo, Brazil. This is the story of Guilherme, his parents, and brothers and sisters conquering the difficulties to create a successful life in Brazil, to create one of Brazil’s most successful family fortunes of the 1900’s.
Guilherme Giorgi and brothers and sisters, 1877
Guilherme Giorgi was born in Lucca, in the Tuscan Region of Northern Italy, on April 03, 1877. His family immigrated to Brazil in late 1877, leaving Guilherme behind due to his very young age and due to the known hardships of the boat crossing. It was feared that Guilherme would not survive the voyage. So Guilherme stayed with family friends in Italy while the rest of the family made the voyage. Guilherme’s parents, Mansueto (1836-1921) and Paradisa Domenici Giorgi (1842-1919), had at the time five children: José (1866-1936), Pedro (1877-1943), Guilherme (1877-1936), Thereza, and Celestina. Upon arrival in Brazil they had one additional daughter, naming her Brasilina.
Once Guilherme turned 14, he came to Brazil. At that time his brother Jose and the rest of the family worked in the railway construction business, managing the construction of the Sorocabana line. Guilherme worked in the family business until he turned 18, and then returned to Italy to take part of mandatory military service. It was there that Guilherme learned about the craft of spinning and weaving and textiles, which would become central to the family business. Lucca was known for its wool textile business during that period of time.
Guilherme married Maria Milanese (1877-1941) in 1903, in the city of São Paulo. At that time Guilherme already a small shopfront in Sao Paulo, selling imported goods. Guilherme and Maria lived in a small house next to the shop, and started having children. The shop, located on Brigadeiro Luiz Antônio street, prospered, and that allowed them to move to a larger house a few blocks away. The new house, located at Martiniano de Carvalho street, was right across from where the local church would be located in the near future.
According to family lore, the best selling product at Guilherme’s shop were small blankets used to swaddle new born babies. Noticing the success of these small blankets, Guilherme decides to manufacture the blankets themselves. To that end, Guilherme and Maria setup a small textile manufacturing business in their house. They would purchase raw material from local providers, and would weave the products themselves. It was a time in Brazil’s history that many small manufacturing facilities were started, given that it was harder to get imported goods from Europe.
Eventually the textile manufacturing side business was more successful than the shop, so the family decided to dedicate themselves 100% to the new venture. They closed the shop and setup shop a few blocks away, moving the textile machinery out of the house to a dedicated shop. The new business, called Guilherme Giorgi & Cia, was established in 1911. The textile factory and storefront was located on Humaita street, just a few blocks from their house. The shop had up to 30 employees working in different shifts. The children, already young adults at the time, were known to work in the business at the time whenever they were not in school.
“I knew that my mom at the beginning would help make the shawl fringes by hand, more than likely when the business was run from the house. Years later she made me a beautiful black shawl with elaborate fringes. I have the shawl even now, all these years later. ”
Guilherme ran a successful business for many years. In 1918 he was approached by the son in law of a very famous individual at the time, Comendatore Martinelli, to setup a new joint venture that would grow the business significantly. The new joint venture, called Victoria Textiles, was located in the Bras neighborhood of Sao Paulo, known till this day as a Sao Paulo’s garment district. The new venture succeeded until 1921, when Guilherme’s business partner bought him out. With the money from the sale, Guilherme joined forces with 8 partners and created a new company, called Sociedade Anonyma Cotonifício Guilherme Giorgi. This would be the beginning of the Giorgi Group business conglomerate.
Guilherme and Maria had seven children: Rogerio (1905-1980), Amélia (1907-2001), Júlio (1909-1991), Brasilina (1910-2001), César (1912-1997), Alfredo (1914-1994) and Adélia (1916-2003).
Front Row: Guilherme Giorgi and Maria Milanesi Giorgi
Back Row: Rogério, Brasilina, César, Adélia (small child) Amélia, Alfredo.
Missing: Júlio, who was away at school in the UK at the time
Julio returned to Brazil from his studies in England in 1930. England was a well known place for state-of-the-art techniques in textile manufacturing. One of the ideas brought back by Julio was to control all steps of the manufacturing process - including the step to transform raw cotton into cotton yarn, which could then be used by the weaving machines. At that time the family business purchased cotton yarn from another factory. The idea was well received by the family and soon an opportunity was identified to purchase such a factory. One of Julio’s closest friends was Aristides Sayon. Aristides’ family wanted to sell their cotton manufacturing business and the deal was made. The factory continued manufacturing cotton yarn at that location for several years - until a new facility was built in its current location - “Villa Carrão”. The new factory was named “Whitin Factory”. The old factory was transformed into the site of the family’s new venture - manufacturing metal cans. This new factory was known as “Metalgrafica Giorgi“.
Guilherme was a well known car collector. He was one of the first ones to have a car in the city of Sao Paulo - even before WW I.
Guilherme was a well known car collector. He was one of the first ones to have a car in the city of Sao Paulo - even before WW I. He was well known for being heavy footed in his driving. Guilherme made many “car-friends” over the years. One of them, Ernesto Gattai, was his favorite mechanic. Ernesto and Guilherme were known to go for long drives around Sao Paulo, disappearing for days at a time. It was Ernesto that convinced Guilherme to establish the first Alfa-Romeo car dealership in the city of Sao Paulo during the 1920s.
This love for speed eventually led Guilherme to establish the Sao Paulo Car Society, called Sociedade Anonyma Auto Esportiva Paulista. One of the main missions of the Sao Paulo Car Society was to establish the city’s first racetrack. The group of friends, which included many well known individuals at the time (Guilherme, Luciano Gualberto, Manoel Lacerda Franco, Guido Sarti, Alfredo Albini, and Matteo Bei), raised funds to purchase a large plot of land (1,800 acres) with the intention of building the racetrack. The initial purchase was made on March 29, 1927. The racetrack came very close to being a reality. The Sao Paulo Car Society even went so far as to pay for several topographical studies. But in 1928 the Society decided to shelf the entire project given the impending financial storm of the coming years.
With the plans of building the racetrack permanently canceled, something had to be done with the land that was purchased. Most of it was subdivided into small plots of land and sold to families in the growing city around them. Guilherme kept a piece for himself - 180 acres - with the intent of building himself a “weekend getaway”. This was known for many years as “the ranch” (in Portuguese: “a chácara”).
The front-end of the “chácara” had about 450 meters facing the Itaquera road. The back-end stretched all the way up to the Aricanduva river. There were 180 acres in total. The “chácara” was sold in 1971 and sold as small plots of land, establishing the “Jardim Santa Maria” neighborhood that exists till this day.
Given the size of the “chácara“, Guilherme decided to reserve a large portion for an eucalyptus plantation, as a means to generate income. 160 acres were set aside for the plantation. The house, vegetable garden, lawns,and the pool were setup in the remaining 20 acres. Construction started right away, and by 1933 the family started using the grounds for large gatherings.
Guilherme and the rest of the clan was known to host large gatherings of family and friends at the “chácara“. These gathering were famous across the city of Sao Paulo. One of the most famous was an annual party held every year on June 25th. This was a “festa junina” style of party, one of Brazil’s many famous traditions. June 25th is the date that Catholics celebrate Saint George (“Saint Guilherme”). This tradition continued for many years , even after Guilherme’s death in 1936.
Giorgi Family Christmas lunch, circa 1960. The round swimming pool, a novelty at the time, is shown behind the family table.
This is a short summary of Guilherme’s life. There is much more to tell.
Around the time of Guilherme’s passing in 1936, his sons had already taken over the day-to-day operations of the family business. It was around the same time that a movie was made about the family’s business success by the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Sao Paulo. It was shot in Sao Paulo and sent to Italy for post-production, which took several about two years to complete. The finished product returned to Sao Paulo just around the time that the Second World War was starting. It was not the time for an Italian family to boast about their success….
The family decided to set the movie aside for the time being. The “old can” (movie reels were kept in tin cans at that time) was stashed away in one of the son’s home. Many years later it was discovered by a member of the third Giorgi generation. By then the movie was badly preserved and considerable amount of work had to be done to restore it. Thankfully a large portion of the movie was saved.
“How exciting it is to be able to see the great legacy left by our grandfather Guilherme Giorgi. Our parents and uncles then carried on the legacy to create Giorgi Industries. You must remember that this all started from a small storefront that sold swaddle blankets, the item that inspired Guilherme to build an entire industry, all from the back of his house.”
Guilherme Giorgi Textile Industry
The movie that was discovered...