Editing Fernando Collor de Mello (section)

==Early career==
[[File:CEDI- Collor stf EBF ab 88 (44275393610).jpg|thumb|left|Collor in 1988]]
Fernando Collor was born on August 12, 1949, to Leda Collor (1916–1995) and [[Arnon de Melo|Arnon Afonso de Farias Mello]] (1911–1983), in a very affluent and politically well-connected family. His father was governor and later senator for the state of [[Alagoas]]. He has two brothers, [[Pedro Collor de Mello|Pedro]] and Leopoldo, and two sisters, Ledinha and Ana. His grandfather, [[Lindolfo Collor]] (1890–1942), was a direct descendant of some of the first [[German Brazilians|German immigrants]] that arrived in Brazil in 1824. Despite being born in [[Rio de Janeiro]], Fernando spent his childhood in the cities of Maceió, Rio de Janeiro and [[Brasília]].<ref>[https://www18.fgv.br/cpdoc/acervo/dicionarios/verbete-biografico/lindolfo-leopoldo-boekel-collor Biography: LINDOLFO LEOPOLDO BOEKEL COLLOR] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231212183458/https://www18.fgv.br/cpdoc/acervo/dicionarios/verbete-biografico/lindolfo-leopoldo-boekel-collor |date=12 December 2023 }}, accessed in 12 December 2023.</ref>

Collor graduated in economic sciences, in 1972, at the [[Federal University of Alagoas]]. That same year, he become president of the ''Gazeta de Alagoas'', a newspaper that was run by his family's media conglomerate. In 1975, he married his first wife Celi Elisabete Júlia Monteiro de Carvalho, with whom he had two children. He married a second time, with [[Rosane Collor|Rosane Malta]] (who would become the First Lady) in 1984. No children were born from this union. In 2006, he married Caroline Medeiros, with whom he would have two children. He also had a child born out of wedlock.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=12 December 2023|language=pt|title=Fernando Collor de Melo|url=https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/historiab/fernando-collor.htm|website=Brasilescola.uol.com.br}}</ref>

Collor became president of Brazilian football club [[Centro Sportivo Alagoano]] (CSA) in 1976. After entering politics, he was successively named mayor of [[Alagoas]]' capital [[Maceió]] in 1979 ([[National Renewal Alliance Party]]), elected a federal deputy ([[Democratic Social Party]]) in 1982, and eventually elected governor of the small Northeastern state of [[Alagoas]] ([[Brazilian Democratic Movement Party]]) in 1986.

During his tenure as governor, he gained national attention for his purported efforts to challenge high salaries among public servants, whom he referred to as ''marajás'' (''[[maharaja]]s'')<ref name=maharaj>{{cite book|last=Solingen|first=Etel|year=1998|title=Regional Orders at Century's Dawn|url=https://archive.org/details/regionalordersat00soli|url-access=limited|page=[https://archive.org/details/regionalordersat00soli/page/n160 147]}}</ref> (likening them to the former princes of India who received a stipend from the government as compensation for relinquishing their lands). The effectiveness of his policies in reducing public expenses remains a subject of debate. However, his stance on the issue significantly increased his popularity across the country, bolstered by appearances on nationally televised broadcasts—an unusual platform for a governor from a smaller state like Alagoas.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bezerra|first1=Ada Kesea Guedes|last2=Silva|first2=Fábio Ronaldo|url=http://www.bocc.ubi.pt/pag/silva-fabio-marketing-politico-imagem.pdf|title=O marketing político e a importância da imagem-marca em campanhas eleitorais majoritárias|website=Biblioteca On-line de Ciências da Comunicação|language=pt|access-date=18 August 2007|archive-date=12 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512145318/http://www.bocc.ubi.pt/pag/silva-fabio-marketing-politico-imagem.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Although he gained national prominence as governor of Alagoas and positioned himself as an anti-corruption and anti-establishment candidate for the presidency, his career was marred by corruption scandals dating back to his tenure as mayor of Maceió. Earlier in his life, when he was a Federal Deputy in the National Congress, Collor was regarded as a relatively low-profile politician, primarily proposing legislation that appeared to favor his family's business interests.<ref>{{cite web |date=2023-05-25 |title=Relembre a trajetória de Fernando Collor |trans-title=Remember the trajectory of Fernando Collor |url=https://g1.globo.com/politica/noticia/2023/05/25/relembre-a-trajetoria-de-fernando-collor.ghtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231027004125/https://g1.globo.com/politica/noticia/2023/05/25/relembre-a-trajetoria-de-fernando-collor.ghtml |archive-date=2023-10-27 |access-date=2023-12-12 |website=[[G1 (website)|G1]] |language=pt-BR}}</ref>