Elsimar M. Coutinho

[3] Coutinho was born in Pojuca, the son of a landowner, politician and pharmacognosis professor of the Pharmacology School of Paraná (Escola de Farmácia do Paraná),[4][5] who was appointed mayor of the municipality of Pojuca in the 1930s (during the military coup that placed Getulio Vargas, a civilian, in the presidency) and Mrs. Alaíde Metzker.

Coutinho completed his early education in Pojuca, followed by high school at the Colégio Estadual da Bahia (Central).

The former Coutinho lands are the triangle between what is known today as Dorival Caymmi square to the Pedra do Sal, up to and including the Abaetê Lagoon.

[9] Later Coutinho studied pharmacy at the Faculdade de Farmácia e Bioquímica, graduating in 1951 followed by a course in medicine, completed in 1956, both at the Federal University of Bahia/UFBA.

There he met his wife Micheline Charlotte,[11][12] a descendant of the aristocratic Barlatier de Mas[13] and Peghoux[14] families.

[16] He also spent time at the Coutinho country estate, Fazenda Nossa Senhora da Paz[17] and on his yacht, The Breeze.

[1] At the Sorbonne, Coutinho studied with professor Claude Fromageot, which led to his interest in hormonal mechanisms, a topic on which he became a specialist and continued to research.

[22] The discovery pushed Coutinho's research into the limelight, making him one of the world authorities in endocrinology and family planning.

[23] After Ciclofem, Coutinho was the pioneer of the studies that led to the discovery of the use of Depo-Provera, the first injectable contraceptive method with prolonged effects.

[27] Coutinho was one of the founders of the "International Committee for Contraceptive Research" – ICCR, of the "Population Council", notorious for their work on IUDs medicated with copper and Norplant the subdermal hormonal implant with levonorgestrel.