Universidade Candido Mendes is a private university located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.^[1] It is Latin America's oldest private university.

This article relies excessively on references to primary sources. (November 2013)

It was founded in 1902,^[2] thus being the oldest private university in Latin America,^[3] by the Count Cândido Mendes de Almeida.^[2] The university was renamed to Escola Técnica de Comércio Cândido Mendes in the 1950s.^[2] The law school was created by Cândido Mendes de Almeida Júnior during that decade.^[2] The university's research institute, named IUPERJ, or Instituto Universitário de Pesquisas do Rio de Janeiro, was inaugurated in the 1960s.^[2] The campi located in Ipanema, Campos dos Goytacazes and Nova Friburgo were inaugurated in the 1970s.^[2]