Legacy and Family
Deeply influenced by the work of Comte, Pestana was a typical member of the generation that defined the Brazilian Republic of 1889-1930. He provided a decisive contribution to the development of Ijuí and Northwestern Rio Grande do Sul, stressing the importance of robust public policies on infrastructure and education. His name is associated with good governance and honesty, but also with the autocratic rule that characterized Rio Grande do Sul during the governments of Júlio de Castilhos and Borges de Medeiros.
The city of Augusto Pestana, a former district of Ijuí, is named after him, as well as the main museum of Northwestern Rio Grande do Sul (Museu Antropológico Diretor Pestana) and several streets and railway stations throughout Rio Grande do Sul and other Brazilian states.
Pestana married on May 24, 1892 Virgínia da Fontoura Trindade, granddaughter of Antônio Vicente da Fontoura, one of the main leaders of the Riograndense Republic, Special Envoy to the Imperial Court of Rio de Janeiro in 1844 and chief negotiator of the 1845 Peace Treaty of Ponche Verde.
They had ten children, all born and raised in Rio Grande do Sul, including Clóvis Pestana, former Brazilian Minister of Transport and Mayor of Porto Alegre, and Cyro Pestana, Justice of the State Supreme Court. Augusto Pestana is great-grandfather to the Brazilian socialist leader Vera Sílvia Magalhães, one of the main figures of the armed resistance against the military dictatorship of 1964-1985, and to Carlos Pestana Neto, current Minister-Chief of Staff of the State Government of Rio Grande do Sul.
Read more about this topic: Augusto Pestana (politician)
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