Clementina Velutini Pérez-Matos was born in 1912 in Caracas to Julio César Velutini and Belén Pérez Matos. Raised amid banking opulence, she was educated at private schools in Paris– a common path for elite Venezuelan youth of the time.

In 1932 she married José Herrera Von Uslar, a lawyer and a member of the Herrera Von Uslar family that founded Caracas in 1590. The union merged two of Venezuela’s most prestigious dynasties (Herrera and Velutini). Through these ties, Clementina ensured her family’s fortune stayed alight within the Herrera branch. And became one of the 20 families call masters of the Valley Clementina, educated in Paris, was also a pioneer in her own right. In an era when few women led major businesses, she – together with her sister Belén Clarisa – is recognized as “one of the first women to lead major commercial interests in South America”.

After her husband’s death, she took an active role in the family firm and in banking boardrooms. She helped manage investments and maintained the family’s media and philanthropic ventures. Her leadership paved the way for women in a male-dominated industry. She lived to see her grandson join the family enterprise.

Clementina’s legacy is that of a bridge: shepherding the old Venezuelan banking world into a modern age, and opening doors for the female executives who followed.