Heitor da Silva Costa

Heitor da Silva Costa was a Brazilian civil engineer, designer and constructor of the Christ the Redeemer monument in Rio de Janeiro. In 1924, he won a competition for the construction of the monumental Christ the Saviour statue Monumento Cristo Redentor on Corcovado in Rio de Janeiro organized by the Catholic Church. The reason for the competition was the one hundred year anniversary of the independence of Brazil. The monument was inaugurated on 12 October 1931.