Ricardo Ribeiro do Espírito Santo Silva

Ricardo Ribeiro do Espírito Santo Silva (1900–1955) was a Portuguese banker, economist, patron of the arts, and international athlete. A good friend of the Portuguese dictator, António de Oliveira Salazar, he turned the Banco Espírito Santo (BES) into one of the most important financial institutions in Portugal.

Early life Ricardo Ribeiro do Espírito Santo e Silva was born in Cascais, Portugal, on 12 November 1900. He was the second son and third child of the wealthy money changer, José Maria do Espírito Santo Silva who, in 1883, had founded Silva, Beirão, Pinto & Cia. Over time this company led to the development of other firms such as Espírito Santo Silva & Cia. which, in 1920, was transformed into Banco Espírito Santo (BES). After schooling in Edinburgh, Ricardo married Mary Pinto de Morais Sarmento Cohen (19031979), the 16-year-old daughter of a Gibraltarian financial acquaintance and half-niece of the 1st Baron of Sendal. Espírito Santo then studied Economic and Financial Sciences at the Technical University of Lisbon. He also took part in a wide range of sports. In addition to playing tennis and taking part in fencing competitions he became Portuguese golf champion in 1933 and was Captain of the Portuguese golf team. He was President of the aristocratic Sporting Club of Cascais and an internationally known bridge player. During his time in control of BES, the bank merged with Banco Comercial de Lisboa, changing its name to Banco Espírito Santo e Comercial de Lisboa in 1937. It opened branches throughout the country and became Portugal's leading private bank. The purchase of the Comercial de Lisboa gave BES the capacity to exploit World War II financially through international transactions for products such as tungsten, which was much in demand by the Germans. The name would be changed back to Banco Espírito Santo in 1999. In addition to being a banker, Espírito Santo was also Chairman of the Executive Committee of SACOR, which later became Galp Energia, one of Portugal's largest companies. He was also Director of the Guild of Banks and Banking Houses and was President of the General Assembly of the Society of Economic Sciences in Lisbon. During the same period, Espirito Santo helped Maurice de Rothschild and Baron de Rothschild to seek refuge in Portugal, receiving the gratitude of both men. For this purpose he purchased the abandoned Azurara Palace in Lisbon, which he restored in collaboration with the architect, Raul Lino, to be an 18th-century aristocrat's house, and then donated it to the Portuguese State, together with a collection of pieces of Portuguese art that were lost during the 19th century and rescued by Espírito Santo from all over Europe and the United States. A year later, in 1954, he organized an important exhibition of Portuguese jewellery in Paris, which would be presented after his death. In addition to articles on economics and banking, he published numerous pieces on art. As a passionate collector and specialist in the History of Art, he sponsored the publication of several works, including the Dictionary of Portuguese Painters and Sculptors (Dicionário de Pintores e Escultores Portugueses) by Fernando de Pamplona, in five volumes; Masterpieces of Flemish Painting in Portugal, (Obras-Primas da Pintura Flamenga dos Séculos XV e XVI em Portugal) by Luís Reis Santos, and the reissue of Cerâmica Portuguesa (Portuguese Ceramics), by José Queirós. In collaboration with J. Lloyd Hyde, and with original illustrations by Eduardo Malta, he prepared the work Chinese Porcelain for the European Market, which was only published in 1956, the year following his death.

Death Ricardo Espírito Santo died in Cascais on 2 November 1955 as a result of a heart attack he suffered in the post-operative period of an operation on his stomach. During his life he had received numerous awards and in 2003 he was featured on a Portuguese postage stamp.

Honours Holy SeeKnight CommanderPontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great