Rodrigo de Castro Pereira

Rodrigo de Castro Pereira

Rodrigo de Castro Pereira on a bullfight
Country (sports)  Portugal
Born (1887-07-22)July 22, 1887[1][2]
Died 1983 (aged 95–96)[2][3]
Plays right-handed
Singles
Grand Slam Singles results
French Open 2R (1926)[4]
Wimbledon 1R (1926)
Olympic Games 1R (1924)[5]
Doubles
Other doubles tournaments
Olympic Games 1R (1924)[5]
Last updated on: November 21, 2012.

Rodrigo de Castro Pereira (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʁoˈdɾiɡu dɨ ˈkaʃtɾu pɨˈɾejɾɐ] (July 22, 1887 – 1983) was a Portuguese tennis player. He was a one-time Portuguese national singles champion in 1931[6] and also a one-time doubles title-holder.[7] He also won the CSIO Lisbon equestrian Grand Prix in 1945.[8]

Early life and family

De Castro Pereira was born July 22, 1887 to Manuel de Castro Pereira, a Bachelor of Laws and Portuguese cavalry officer, and Cecilia van Zeller. His grandfather was Rodrigo Delfim Pereira, a Brazilian minister to Berlin, Paris, and Hamburg. His great-grandfather was Pedro I of Brazil, the ruler of Brazil and Portugal and the Algarves in the 1820s. His great-great-grandfather was John VI of Portugal, de facto King of United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves and titular Emperor of Brazil.[1][2][9] Thus he spent his childhood in the royal court of Portugal.[7] At the age of ten he began practising bullfighting.[7] He graduated from the Academia Militar das Agulhas Negras as a civil engineer.[7] At the age of 24 his second cousin once removed Manuel II of Portugal was forced to exile to the United States after the 5 October 1910 revolution; Royalist Rodrigo joined him pursued by the fear of being condemned for his affiliations.[7]

Tennis career

In 1924 he competed in tennis at the 1924 Summer Olympics, where he was eliminated in the first round of both singles and doubles by Arturo Hortal and Enrique Maier and Ricardo Saprissa, to whom the Portuguese team gave a walkover.[5] Next year in the 1925 French Championships he was defeated in the first round to Pierre Hirsch.[10] In the follow up French Championships he succumbed to Bertie Meyer in five sets.[4] The same year he lost in the Wimbledon first round as well.

In 1927 Pereira was invited into a national squad to represent Portugal in an international team challenge against the Spain Davis Cup team.[11] Two years later he was part of the team who fought a rematch with Spain in Seville, where Arturo Suqué defeated Pereira in two sets. José de Verda and Castro Pereira lost to Enrique de Satrústegui Barrie and Pereira.[12]

At the age of 44 in 1931 he won his first and only national championships trophy in singles.[6]

In April 1933 in the Ernesto Bastos Cup of Laranjeiras he reached the finals, beating his own brother Nuno in the semis.[13] In October he reached the doubles semifinals of the Tijuca tournament with José de Verda.[14] As Portugal was absent from the Davis Cup between 1930 and 1948, in late October de Castro Pereira was drafted into an international team match in Santos, São Paulo, featuring the Brazil team as opponents. Pereira won the singles rubber against Gonçalves and also the doubles partnering Horta Costa against Gonçalves-Tsimonsen.[15]

Sports diplomat career

President of the Federação Portuguesa de Lawn Tennis
In office
January 18, 1934[6] – 1941
Preceded by Guilherme Pinto Basto[16]
Succeeded by António Ferro[17]
In office
1950[6] – 1952[6]
Preceded by André Navarro[6]
Succeeded by Joaquim Miguel Sierra[6]
10th President of the Sociedade Hípica Portuguesa[18]
In office
1947–1952
Preceded by Ferreira de Lima
Succeeded by Mário Rafael da Cunha
3rd President of the Federação Equestre Portuguesa[19]
In office
1957–1967
Preceded by Manuel da Costa Latino
Succeeded by Kaúlza Oliveira de Arriaga
Personal details
Relations Pedro I of Brazil (great-grandfather)
John VI of Portugal (great-great-grandfather)
Alma mater Academia Militar das Agulhas Negras[7]
Profession Civil engineer[9]

In 1934 he was elected the president of the Portuguese Tennis Federation, an office he held twice, assuming it the second time in 1950.[6] He was also the head figure of the Portuguese equestrian movement by first becoming the president of the Portuguese Equestrian Society in 1947 and, a decade later, of the Portuguese Equestrian Federation.[18][19] He was also the member of the Portuguese Olympic Committee.[3]

Personal life

After emigrating to the United States de Castro Pereira was a blue-collar worker at the Duquesne Works of the United States Steel Corporation for four years.[7] With the help of his degree he was promoted to Superintendent.[7] In the midst of World War I he first sought to be enlisted in the Portuguese Army, which was refused;[16] then in 1917 he joined the American Expeditionary Forces and was transported to France. He earned the rank of a captain in the 1st Infantry Division.[7] In 1920 he was appointed vice-president of Dorey Inc., a New York-based export company.[7] He moved back to Portugal in 1921 and in the 1930s he started working for Fassio Ltd., the Portuguese contractor of the American tractor manufacturer company Allis-Chalmers.[7] In the meantime he kept on serving at the Portuguese Legion as a captain.[7]

In 1966, he was awarded the Mohammed Taher Trophy by the International Olympic Committee.[3] In 1978 he received the Golden Lion award from the Sporting Club de Portugal.[20]

References

  1. 1 2 "Empire of Brazil". Almanach de Gotha. West Jacksonville, United States: Almanach de Saxe Gotha. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 Alan Freer. "The descendants of William the Conqueror". william1.co.uk. London, United Kingdom: Society of Genealogists. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 "Obituary" (PDF). Olympic Review. Los Angeles, United States: LA84 Foundation (190–191): 582. August–September 1983. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  4. 1 2 "Roland-Garros 1926 (Grand Slam) – Men singles" (PDF). fft.fr. Paris, France: Fédération Française de Tennis. 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  5. 1 2 3 "Rodrigo Castro-Pereira". itftennis.com. London, Great Britain: International Tennis Federation. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Sobre a FPT" [On the FPT]. tenis.pt (in Portuguese). Lisbon, Portugal: Federação Portuguesa de Ténis. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Meet the tractor man from Lisbon". The Milwaukee Journal. Milwaukee, United States: Hearst Corporation: 9. April 27, 1937. ISSN 1082-8850. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  8. ↑ "CSIO Lisboa – Grand Prix winners" (PDF). csiolisboa.com. Lisbon, Portugal: CSIO Lisboa. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 17, 2013. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  9. 1 2 "VII . Rodrigo de Castro Pereira, ingénieur civil, officier de l' armée américaine pendant la premičre guerre mondiale, " sportsman de renommée internationale" [VII. Rodrigo Pereira de Castro, civil engineer, an officer of the U.S. Army during the first World War, "renowned sportsman"]. dynastie.capetienne.free.fr. Paris, France: free.fr. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  10. ↑ "Roland-Garros 1925 (Grand Slam) – Men singles" (PDF). fft.fr. Paris, France: Fédération Française de Tennis. 2006. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  11. ↑ "Tennis" (PDF). Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Barcelona, Spain: 2. September 7, 1927. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  12. ↑ Enrique G. Maier (October 8, 1929). "Tenis; El match internacional Portugal – España" [Tennis; the international match Portugal – Spain] (PDF). La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Barcelona, Spain: Carlos Godó Valls. XLVIII (20,476): 25. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  13. ↑ "Lawn Tennis" (PDF). Diário de Lisboa. Lisbon, Portugal: Joaquim Manso. 12 (3737): 5. April 9, 1933. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  14. ↑ "Tennis" (PDF). O Paiz. Lisbon, Portugal: Alfredo Neves. XLVIII (16,809): 6. October 28, 1933. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  15. ↑ "Tennis" (PDF). O Paiz. Lisbon, Portugal: Alfredo Neves. XLVII (16,805): 6. October 24, 1933. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  16. 1 2 "Direcção de Castro Pereira" [Direction of Castro Pereira]. tenis.pt (in Portuguese). Lisbon, Portugal: Federação Portuguesa de Ténis. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  17. ↑ "Ténis: Bodas de platina para a Federação Portuguesa" [Tennis: Platinum Jubilee of the Portuguese Federation]. record.xl.pt (in Portuguese). Pero, Italy: Edisport. March 16, 2000. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  18. 1 2 "Presidentes" [Presidents]. sociedadehipica.pt (in Portuguese). Lisbon, Portugal: Sociedade Hípica Portuguesa. Archived from the original on January 22, 2011. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  19. 1 2 "Presidentes da Direcção" [Presidents]. fep.pt (in Portuguese). Lisbon, Portugal: Federação Equestre Portuguesa. Archived from the original (DOC) on September 17, 2013. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  20. ↑ José Eduardo Bettencourt, ed. (2010). Sporting Club de Portugal yearbook 2009–2010 (in Portuguese). Lisbon, Portugal: Sporting Club de Portugal. p. 18. Retrieved November 21, 2012.

Ancestry

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