Aleksandar Mandic, entrepreneur and pioneer of the commercial internet in Brazil died this Thursday (6) at the age of 66. His son, Axel Mandic, confirmed the information on his social media profile.
Mandic contracted Covid-19 at the end of last year and reached critical condition in a hospital in Portugal, where he lived. After recovering from the virus, he discovered that he had leukemia. In the last few months he was in São Paulo, where he died - the cause was not disclosed.
Mandic worked for 17 years at Siemens until he founded Mandic BBS in 1990, a brand that led him to his recognition in the world of technology. He was one of the first people to make money from the internet in Brazil, even before the commercial internet became popular, starting in 1996.
The BBS (Bulletin Board System), the object of his business, was one of the pioneering chat features for exchanging messages. It preceded messaging programs like ICQ, MSN Messenger and WhatsApp. It was a tool without a graphical interface, with a black screen and small green letters.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon