EN PT

André Jordan was born in Poland, in 1933, and raised in Brazil where the family created the Jordan Group. He has dual Brazilian and Portuguese citizenship. In 1968, after the death of his father, Mr Jordan became the International Development Director of Levitt & Sons, in New York, the most important residential developer in the United States at the time.

He came to Portugal in 1971 to create the Quinta do Lago, which still is, after 40 years, recognized as one of the most prestigious resort developments in the world. In the late 80’s, after the sale of Quinta do Lago, André Jordan became Managing Director of Bovis Abroad, in London, the foreign leisure property arm of the Bovis Group, with projects in Spain, Portugal and the Caribbean, including the famous La Manga Club in the Southern Spain.

In 1991 he created a new project in the Sintra hills of the Lisbon region, named Belas Clube de Campo, which has become an established and successful community. Comprising 465 hectares, it is 20 minutes from the center of Lisbon.

At the end of 1995, the André Jordan Group acquired Lusotur, SA, the owner of Vilamoura, in the Algarve, South of Portugal, the largest leisure and residential complex in Europe which comprises a 1000 berth marina, 5 world renowned championship golf courses, casino, several 5 star hotels and approximately 60,000 beds. This company was sold to Spanish investors in 2006.

The nine golf courses created by André Jordan in Portugal have held major international championship events and some are listed among the top courses in Europe and also in the world. Since its inception in Portugal, 42 years ago, special attention has been paid by the André Jordan Group to sustainable development, which is attested by numerous international certificates and awards.

André Jordan was involved in many civic, cultural and educational organizations, both in Portugal and internationally.  He acted as a Vice-Chairman of WTTC and was an Honorary Member and a member of the Governance Committee. He was a Fellow of the Duke of Edinburgh International Award Association and was Chairman of its Portuguese chapter. He was Honorary Consul of Brazil in the Algarve for 17 years. He was a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. Member of the Board of Founders since 1999 of the Serralves Foundation, André Jordan was until 2013 also a member of its Board of Directors. He was the first President of the Urban Land Institute – ULI (Portugal), from 2001 to 2004.

A journalist in his youth, André Jordan was a regular contributor to the opinion pages of the main Portuguese and Brazilian newspapers and published 7 books.

Mr. Jordan was an Honorary Citizen of Rio de Janeiro and has received the Gold Medal of the cities of Loulé and Sintra, as well as of the Portuguese Tourism. He holded the Key of the City of New York. He has been decorated by the Portuguese Government with the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit and was a Grand Officer of the Order of Henry The Navigator. The Brazilian Government has made him Grand Officer of the Order of Rio Branco. In 2014 André Jordan was distinguished in London with the World Travel Leaders Award. In 2020, he was granted the right to use the title of Officer of the British Empire (OBE-Hon) by the British Royal House. In Portugal he received in 2021 the National Tourism Award (Career Category) and in 2022 the Leaders of Tourism Award (Leader of Excellence Category).

André Jordan was a Doctor Honoris Causa of ISCTE  University Institute of Lisbon and of the University of the Algarve.

André Jordan passed away the 9th February 2024 at his residence in Belas Clube de Campo, in the Lisbon surroundings. He leaves 4 children and 9 grandchildren.

Three highlights from the main projects developed by André Jordan Group in Portugal: BELAS CLUB DE CAMPO,  QUINTA DO LAGO and VILAMOURA XXI,
big developments already sold to international investors. The connections to the golf practices and strict sustainability policies are trademarks of the André Jordan projects. Learn more about these developments following the dedicated links.

QUINTA DO LAGO

RESIDENCES AT VICTORIA

Gilberto Jordan

 

André Jordan's memoir is the account of the journey through an unusual life. With stages, departures and arrivals, people who get in and out of the carriage where the author takes us to unexpected places and introduces us to fantastic characters, armed with the serenity of those who saw and lived most, without reckoning or heroic acts. A man of the world, an involuntary accumulator of nationalities and honours, André Jordan travelled trough different eras powered by his dreams, never taking his eyes off reality. Not being an academic, he lived and learned with brilliant minds, still acquiring the ability to combine intuition and deduction at a very young age. In describing the genesis and evolution of his projects, the implicit criticism of the financial system, the narrow-mindedness of those who control the money, the lack of preparation of decision-makers, is striking.

We read this book as a real life novel. With ingredients that attract and capture our attention: the plots, the suspense about the denouement of the quarrels, the conquerors and the maidens, the good and the bad of the tape. There is everything in the stories of this life story: scenes from thriller, fairy tales, historical romance, power struggles, financial chronicle, poetic prose. Psychological profiles are rigorously drawn. The settings described with precision to place the reader there.

Widely illustrated, André Jordan's A Journey Through Life brings us the testimony of a remarkable man, a fantastic first-person storyteller. It has the seal of publisher Almedina and is for sale online and in good Portuguese bookstores.