18 Facts About Sara Braun

Sara Braun was a Latvian-born Chilean businesswoman who became one of the principal employers in Patagonia.

When Nogueira died in 1893, Sara Braun took over his leases to land in Tierra del Fuego and took control of his commercial, industrial and shipping interests.

Sara Braun established an import trading house and group of warehouses, becoming one of the first women to run a business in the area.

Sara Braun's mansion is preserved as a museum in Punta Arenas, and the Sara Braun Foundation, established at her death, provides scholarship funds to students for higher education.

Sara Braun was born on 17 December 1862 in Talsi, in Courland in the Russian Empire to Sofia Hamburger and Elias Braun.

Sara Braun's father was a tinsmith and the family was of Jewish heritage.

The Sara Braun family agreed to travel to Magallanes, now known as Punta Arenas, in 1874.

Braun's father gained Nogueira's trust and was hired to oversee his naval warehouse, and Sara helped her father with the administration of the depot.

Sara Braun was actively engaged in the Sara Braun Nogueira businesses, offering her advice and vision to her husband.

Sara Braun began assuming management of all of his enterprises, with the "permanent help of her brothers Mauricio and Oscar", "becoming the first businesswoman in the history of Magallanes".

Besides the land leases in Patagonia, Sara Braun inherited Nogueira's other commercial, industrial and shipping interests, and established an import trading house and group of warehouses.

Sara Braun formed a livestock company with McClelland and began importing sheep.

In 1895, Sara Braun hired Numa Mayer, a French architect, to construct a mansion for her at 716 Munoz Gamero Plaza, in Magallanes.

In 1901, Sara Braun married Leoncio Valenzuela Crespo, a rear admiral in the Chilean Navy and a member of the Board of the Exploitation Society.

Sara Braun was the patron of the Sixth Firemen's Company, donated land for building several schools, and was the donor for the portico at the entrance of the Punta Arenas Cemetery.

Sara Braun was honored by the City of Punta Arenas as their Benefactora Publica in 1945.

At the time of her death, Sara Braun was mourned as a prominent citizen and philanthropist of Patagonia.

Sara Braun left outright stock donations to the various charities she had contributed to during her lifetime, as well as the San Juan de Dios Sanatorium of Vina del Mar; the Children's Hospital of Valparaiso; and the Sacred Family Asylum in Punta Arenas.