Présentation
In 1819, forced by the economic crisis, some 2000 Swiss emigrated to Brasil and founded the town of Nova Friburgo in the hills near Rio de Janeiro. The land proved to be unproductive. Some colonists returned to Rio, where they lived in poverty and delinquency, others made it to the coffee-growing areas of the north and made their fortunes. Thoma Brasey went to find their descendants, proud of their origins and enraptured by a romantic vision of their far-off homeland.