Horacio Lafer, one of South America’s outstanding Jewish leaders, and the first Brazilian Jew to be a member of the Brazilian Congress and twice a member of the Cabinet, died today in Paris suddenly at the ago of 65. His body will be returned to Brazil Friday.
He served as Brazil’s first delegate to the League of Nations in 1929. He was a member of the National Assembly in 1933 which was convened to draw up a new constitution for Brazil. He served as a member of the Brazilian Congress from 1934 to 1963. From 1946 to 1950, he was a majority leader in the Brazilian Congress. In 1951 he was Finance Minister and later served as Foreign Minister.
In 1952 as Governor of the World Bank he presided at a conference on the International Monetary Fund. He presided also in 1960 at the conference of Latin American Foreign Ministers in Costa Rica. He took an active interest in Jewish life and had a major role in Brazil’s industrial development particularly in the paper and newsprint industries.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
