The son of Heleno Fragoso, Fernando Fragoso was a criminal defense lawyer distinguished by his legal expertise and his advocacy for the legal profession and democracy, as well as his deep dedication to the causes he championed. A talented and accomplished leader within the profession on the international stage, he served as president of the Inter-American Bar Association (IABA) and the Institute of Brazilian Lawyers (IAB), and held leadership positions at the Brazilian Bar Association, Rio de Janeiro Chapter (OAB-RJ). He was a partner at Fragoso Advogados, a firm founded by his father and now managed by his sons, Rodrigo and Christiano, who keep his legacy alive through their leadership of the practice.

Fernando Fragoso earned his law degree from the Universidade do Estado da Guanabara (UEG), now the Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), in 1973. He completed a Master’s degree in Public Law at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and taught at Universidade Candido Mendes as a full professor of Criminal Law, as well as in the postgraduate program in Economic Criminal Law at Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV).

He served on the Council of the International Criminal Bar and was an attorney admitted to practice before the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands. He was a member of the Scientific Council of the United Nations Latin American Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (ILANUD), as well as the Brazilian Institute of Criminal Sciences, the International Association of Penal Law, the International Society of Social Defence, and the Inter-American Bar Association.

He passed away in 2022 at the age of 72.