Orestes Quércia

The son of Octavio Quércia and Isaura Roque Quércia, Orestes Quércia lived in Pedregulho and moved to Campinas with his family when still a teenager. Elected the vice-president of the student council in his high school, in his senior year he joined as a reporter to the local newspaper Diário do Povo, and got accepted at Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas (PUCC) in its law school program. At university, he was the director of the newspaper Centro Acadêmico 16 de Abril and he founded the Universidade de Cultura Popular (University of Popular Culture) linked to the Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas (PUCC). From 1959 to 1963 Quércia was the radio announcer for two radios: Rádio Cultura and Rádio Brasil, he also worked at the newspaper Jornal de Campinas which was a branch of Última Hora newspaper. Subsequently, he became the president of the press association of Campinas and also worked as a production assistant at the Highways department.

Quercia invested in properties and in the communication business – was the owner of

Sol Investment Group, which owns and control Brazil FM Radio Nova, the newspaper

Financial DCI, two regional broadcasters, TVB Campinas (from

February, an affiliate of Rede Record) and TVB Santos (from March, affiliate

Rede Bandeirantes), the Shopping Jaragua and several farms. His assets were valued at over $117 million.

Quércia was married to Alaíde Barbosa Ulson Quércia since 1985. The couple had four children.

He died from prostate canceron 24 December 2010, aged 72, according to the Syrian-Lebanese Hospital in São Paulo. He had treated the cancer in 1990, but the tumor recurred, prompting him to give up nomination to the Senate. Quércia's funeral was held the following day at the Bandeirantes Palace in São Paulo, and he was buried at the Morumbi Cemetery.

Orestes Quércia began his political career when was elected alderman of Campinas in the PL (Liberator Party) in 1962. A few years after the multiparty system ended, and he chose the MDB (Brazilian Democratic Movement) and in this party was elected state representative in 1966 and mayor of Campinas in 1968.

After electing his successor in 1972, Quércia began organizing directories of his party (MDB) everywhere in the São Paulo state and in the party convention as a candidate for the Senate of Brazil he won the contest with over Lino de Matos e Samir Achôa. In 1974, he was

elected senator after a tied competition with Carvalho Pinto that was appointed as favorite running for re-election with the ARENA (National Renewal Alliance Party). Quércia was very critical about the economic policy during the government of Ernesto Geisel in 1977 and during this period was reported the occurrence of corruption during his period as a mayor of Campinas, but the claims were never not proven. The return of multiparty politics made him join to the PMDB party in 1980 and declared himself a candidate to succeed the governor Paulo Maluf in February 1981, a position he maintained until a last-minute deal that made him candidate to vice governor, being Franco Montoro the governor candidate.

In 1982 he was elected vice governor of São Paulo, but differently from the image of party unity shown during the campaign, was constant against PMDB politicians linked to the governor, he did not succeed but tried to prevent the Congressman Mário Covas to be the mayor of São Paulo in 1983 and the election of Senator Fernando Henrique Cardoso to the presidency of the state directory of the PMDB that same year. It was adherent to the Diretas Já and the winning campaign of Tancredo Neves toward the presidency in 1985, the year he married

the doctor Alaíde Cristina Barbosa Ulson. At this moment he was on his way to the candidacy for governor in 1986.

After the victory of former President Jânio Quadros (Brazilian Labour Party-PTB) over Fernando Henrique Cardoso in November of that year, Orestes Quércia saw his popularity in the party increase with the movement called "quercismo" which guaranteed its nomination as candidate for governor despite internal dissidence. Candidate in an election polarized initially between deputy Paulo Maluf and the businessman Antônio de Morais Ermírio and also had the participation of the deputy Eduardo Suplicy, the clash began with low scores in surveys of opinion, however he kept his candidacy and ultimately was victorious. His government was responsible for a big growth economical of the state and for privatization of VASP in 1990, the year in which elected Luiz Antonio Fleury Filho as his successor.