Ricardo Elias

My ancestors came to Brazil in 1873, part of a small group of Icelandic immigrants, and settled in the city of Curitiba in southern Brazil. By coincidence, I was born in Joinville, the same city that the first Icelandic expedition visited in 1863, back when it was a German colony.

As a child, I listened intently to my grandmother’s stories; she always said we were descendants of Icelanders. In 2018, I decided to start looking for documentation in order to unravel this mystery and perhaps realize my dream of knowing more about Iceland. In early 2019, an old friend who works with genealogy recommended that I contact Icelandic Roots.

I am a former trader and now work in private security. Currently, I study history at a college in the city of Porto Alegre. My wife Jessica and I have one daughter named Luize. My hobbies are astronomy, literature, and geopolitical studies. I’m looking forward to representing Icelandic Roots here in Brazil and working to help expand our understanding of Icelandic families then and now.