The donation to Curitiba’s municipal health department was announced on Thursday by O Boticário’s founder and president, Miguel Krigsner, a Jewish biochemist and environmentalist.
“Our essence is to be agents of transformation in everything we do. If we save a life, we save humanity. This is Judaism,” Krigsner, a Bolivian-Brazilian entrepreneur, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Born in La Paz to a Polish father and a German mother who fled the Nazi regime, Krigsner moved to Brazil with his family at the age of 11.
“Our company was born in Curitiba and we have a huge affection for this city. We believe that through this donation we will be able to minimize the anxiety and pain of many people,” he added.
Founded 43 years ago, O Boticário is Brazil’s second-largest cosmetic company and the world’s largest beauty retailer, with over 4,000 stores worldwide, 22,000 employees and nearly $4 billion in revenue in 2019.
In 1990, the company created the O Boticário Nature Protection Foundation, a nonprofit that already has sponsored 800 conservation projects throughout Brazil.
“As long as Boticário exists, it will put money into this thing. I see it as a moral obligation. There is a question of conscience and within the Jewish religion there is tzedakah. What is it? It’s a word that says that you have to do good for your neighbor,” said Krigsner, who is the founder of the Curitiba Holocaust Museum.