Epitácio Pessoa
Encyclopedia
Epitácio Lindolfo da Silva Pessoa (epiˈtasju lĩˈdowfu da ˈsiwvɐ peˈsoɐ; May 23, 1865 – February 13, 1942) was a Brazilian politician and jurist
Jurist
A jurist or jurisconsult is a professional who studies, develops, applies, or otherwise deals with the law. The term is widely used in American English, but in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries it has only historical and specialist usage...

, and president of the republic between 1919 and 1922, when Rodrigues Alves could not take office due to illness after being elected in 1918. His period of government was marked by military revolts that would culminate in the Revolution of 1930, which brought Getúlio Vargas
Getúlio Vargas
Getúlio Dornelles Vargas served as President of Brazil, first as dictator, from 1930 to 1945, and in a democratically elected term from 1951 until his suicide in 1954. Vargas led Brazil for 18 years, the most for any President, and second in Brazilian history to Emperor Pedro II...

 into control of the Federal Government.

In addition to his term as president, Pessoa served as Minister of Justice, a justice in the Supreme Federal Tribunal
Supreme Federal Tribunal
The Supreme Federal Court is the supreme court of Brazil, serving primarily as the Constitutional Court of the country. It is the highest court of law in Brazil for constitutional issues and its rulings cannot be appealed...

, Attorney General
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...

, a two term Federal Deputy, a three term Senator, Chief of the Brazilian delegation for the Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...

 and a judge on the Permanent Court of International Justice
Permanent Court of International Justice
The Permanent Court of International Justice, often called the World Court, was an international court attached to the League of Nations. Created in 1922 , the Court was initially met with a good reaction from states and academics alike, with many cases submitted to it for its first decade of...

.

Biography

Epitácio Pessoa was born in Umbuzeiro, a small town in the state of Paraíba
Paraíba
Paraíba Paraíba Paraíba (Tupi: pa'ra a'íba: "bad to navigation"; Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: is a state of Brazil. It is located in the Brazilian Northeast, and is bordered by Rio Grande do Norte to the north, Ceará to the west, Pernambuco to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the east...

. His parents died of smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...

 when he was only seven years old. He was taken in and educated by his uncle Henrique de Lucena, then the governor of Pernambuco
Pernambuco
Pernambuco is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. To the north are the states of Paraíba and Ceará, to the west is Piauí, to the south are Alagoas and Bahia, and to the east is the Atlantic Ocean. There are about of beaches, some of the most beautiful in the...

. Pessoa endured a very poor childhood, but with great effort managed to earn a degree in law. He went on to join the Faculty of Law at the University of Pernambuco as a professor. He eventually made his way to Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

.

Young Epitácio managed to make the acquaintance of Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca
Deodoro da Fonseca
Marshal Manuel Deodoro da Fonseca became the first president of the Republic of Brazil after heading a military coup that deposed Emperor Pedro II and proclaimed the Republic in 1889, disestablishing the Empire of Brazil.- Biography :...

 through the connections of his eldest brother José. With the proclamation of the Brazilian Republic he was invited by governor Venâncio Neiva to serve as secretary-general of the first republican government of Paraíba. He was a deputy to the constituent assembly
Constituent assembly
A constituent assembly is a body composed for the purpose of drafting or adopting a constitution...

 from 1890 to 1891, during which time he was noted as a standout figure. By the time he was twenty five years old, he was already noted as an accomplished jurist
Jurist
A jurist or jurisconsult is a professional who studies, develops, applies, or otherwise deals with the law. The term is widely used in American English, but in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries it has only historical and specialist usage...

.

During his time in the Constituent Assembly, Pessoa gave an outstanding speech where he articulated on the political responsibilities of the President of the Republic. In 1894, he resolved to abandon politics because of his disagreements with then president Floriano Peixoto
Floriano Peixoto
Floriano Vieira de Araújo Peixoto , April 30, 1839, Maceió, Brazil — July 29, 1895, Rio de Janeiro; born in Ipioca , was a Brazilian soldier and politician, a veteran of the War of the Triple Alliance, and the second President of Brazil.-Election and Succession as President:Floriano Peixoto...

. After marrying Maria da Conceição Manso Saião, he left for Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

.

After his return to Brazil he became Minister of Justice in the government of Campos Sales, during which time he invited Clóvis Beviláqua
Clóvis Beviláqua
Clóvis Beviláqua was a Brazilian jurist, historian and journalist born in Viçosa do Ceará Clóvis Beviláqua (1859–1944) was a Brazilian jurist, historian and journalist born in Viçosa do Ceará Clóvis Beviláqua (1859–1944) was a Brazilian jurist, historian and journalist born in Viçosa do Ceará...

, a colleague from his days as a professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Recife
Recife
Recife is the fifth-largest metropolitan area in Brazil with 4,136,506 inhabitants, the largest metropolitan area of the North/Northeast Regions, the 5th-largest metropolitan influence area in Brazil, and the capital and largest city of the state of Pernambuco. The population of the city proper...

, to write a civil code
Civil code
A civil code is a systematic collection of laws designed to comprehensively deal with the core areas of private law. A jurisdiction that has a civil code generally also has a code of civil procedure...

 for the country that would eventually be adopted in 1916. After leaving the Ministry of Justice, Pessoa would then successively serve as Minister of Transportation, a Justice of the Supreme Federal Tribunal
Supreme Federal Tribunal
The Supreme Federal Court is the supreme court of Brazil, serving primarily as the Constitutional Court of the country. It is the highest court of law in Brazil for constitutional issues and its rulings cannot be appealed...

, and Attorney General of the Republic. Levi Carneiro, in his "Livro de um Advogado", notes that as a justice Pessoa never voted in favor of any case in which he had been assigned to elaborate the views of the court.

Elected as a senator
Senate of Brazil
The Federal Senate of Brazil is the upper house of the National Congress of Brazil. Created by the first Constitution of the Brazilian Empire in 1824, it was inspired by the United Kingdom's House of Lords, but with the Proclamation of the Republic in 1889 it became closer to the United States...

 for his home state of Paraíba in 1911, Pessoa then moved to Europe where he lived until 1914. Returning to Brazil, he would soon assume the post of realtor for the Commission for the Verification of Powers.

With the end of the First World War, Pessoa was chosen to lead the Brazilian delegation for the Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...

 in 1919. Ruy Barbosa
Ruy Barbosa
Ruy Barbosa de Oliveira was a Brazilian writer, jurist, and politician.Born in Salvador da Bahia, he was a federal representative, senator, Minister of Finance and diplomat. For his distinguished participation in the Hague Peace Conference of 1907, he earned the nickname "Eagle of the Hague"...

 had originally been chosen to lead the delegation, but he resigned and Pessoa was picked as his substitute. The Brazilian delegation, which supported the aims of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, obtained good results in its attempts to resolve issues that Brazil had an interest in: the sale of Brazilian coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...

 that had been stored in European ports, and the fate of 70 German ships seized by Brazil during the war.

Pessoa disputed the succession of Delfim Moreira
Delfim Moreira
Delfim Moreira da Costa Ribeiro was a Brazilian politician. He was born in Minas Gerais state, and was elected vice-president in 1918. He assumed the presidency on November 15, 1918, due to the illness and death of former and now elect president Rodrigues Alves. However, Moreira suffered from...

, the vice-president of president-elect Rodrigues Alves, who had died before he could take office. He won the presidency of the Republic by defeating the then septuagenarian Ruy Barbosa
Ruy Barbosa
Ruy Barbosa de Oliveira was a Brazilian writer, jurist, and politician.Born in Salvador da Bahia, he was a federal representative, senator, Minister of Finance and diplomat. For his distinguished participation in the Hague Peace Conference of 1907, he earned the nickname "Eagle of the Hague"...

 in a snap election without having even left France; the only such case in the whole history of the Brazilian republic. His candidacy had been supported in Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...

, and was considered fairly symbolic. The election of a president from Paraíba
Paraíba
Paraíba Paraíba Paraíba (Tupi: pa'ra a'íba: "bad to navigation"; Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: is a state of Brazil. It is located in the Brazilian Northeast, and is bordered by Rio Grande do Norte to the north, Ceará to the west, Pernambuco to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the east...

 represented a defeat for the old political system of café com leite
Café com leite
Café com leite was a term that referred to the domination of Brazilian politics under the Old Republic by the landed gentries of São Paulo and Minas Gerais...

, with the election of Marshal Hermes da Fonseca from Rio Grande do Sul
Rio Grande do Sul
Rio Grande do Sul is the southernmost state in Brazil, and the state with the fifth highest Human Development Index in the country. In this state is located the southernmost city in the country, Chuí, on the border with Uruguay. In the region of Bento Gonçalves and Caxias do Sul, the largest wine...

 a decade earlier being the only previous exception. Regardless, Pessoa still represented the interests of the traditional oligarchies of Minas Gerais and São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...

.

There is another view of this election however: The belief that after the death of Rodrigues Alves the elite of Minas Gerais and São Paulo wanted to choose a new candidate from outside their own ranks. That Artur Bernardes of Minas Gerais was elected president in the next election supports the theory that the oligarches had never lost control in the intervening years.

Pessoa was an unavowed racist. He banned the involvement of Brazil's black football players in the 1921 Copa America: the South American football championships.

Presidency

Brazil had greatly improved its financial situation over the course of the First World War. The industrialized countries had been forced to concentrate all of their resources towards the arms industry. Brazil exported raw materials at compensatory prices and enlarged its industrial base, manufacturing products that were previously imported. With the end of the war, Europe began to rehabilitate its industries. At the same time, Brazil was befallen with a number of workers strikes, and the business community along with the coffee-growers tried to reimpose their control. In response to these events Pessoa introduced a program of austere financial planning. Nevertheless, the pressures on the State continued to grow. New loans, totaling nine million pounds
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...

 financed the retention of green coffee in Brazilian ports. Another loan was secured from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 for the electrification
Electrification
Electrification originally referred to the build out of the electrical generating and distribution systems which occurred in the United States, England and other countries from the mid 1880's until around 1940 and is in progress in developing countries. This also included the change over from line...

 of the Estrada de Ferro Central do Brasil
Estrada de Ferro Central do Brasil
The Estrada de Ferro Central do Brasil was one of the principal railways of Brazil, uniting the states of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Minas Gerais.-Origins:...

.

Pessoa did not escape from the intrigues of state politics, and used the Federal Government to intervene on behalf of state-based interest groups in return for support in Congress. He was embroiled in one of the most troubled periods in the history of the Old Republic, with the outbreak of the 18 of the Copacabana Fort revolt
18 of the Copacabana Fort revolt
The 18 of the Copacabana Fort revolt happened on July 5, 1922, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, then Federal District of Brazil. It was the first revolt of the tenentista movement, in the context of the Brazilian Old Republic.- Tenentismo :...

 on July 5, 1922, the crisis of the false letters (see below) and the revolt of the Military Club. The process of finding a successor for Pessoa therefore happened within a highly charged climate where the lieutenants and subalterns (the tenentes) of the Armed Forces called for profound political reforms.

Crisis of the False Letters

In 1921, the Correio da Manhã
Correio da Manhã
Correio da Manhã is a major daily Portuguese newspaper , published in Lisbon. It is published by the publishing division of the Cofina group.It is regarded as the most read general newspaper in the country....

 published letters supposedly sent by Artur Bernardes and Raul Soares de Moura which contained insults towards the Armed Forces and Marshal Hermes da Fonseca. A commission attested to the veracity of this correspondence. A year later, Bernardes claimed victory in the presidential elections. In response the Military Club and the noted politician Borges de Medeiros called for the creation of a court of honor to review the legitimacy of Bernardes' election. The Federal Congress reviewed the election results and declared them legitimate.

Notable facts

Pessoa's principal acts as president were:
  • The construction of more than 200 dams in Northeast
    Northeast Region, Brazil
    The Northeast Region of Brazil is composed of the following states: Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe and Bahia, and it represents 18.26% of the Brazilian territory....

     (Considered the largest accomplishment of his government);
  • The creation of the University of Rio de Janeiro
    Rio de Janeiro
    Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

     – considered by official historians at the time to be first one of its kind in Brazil, though the Universidade do Paraná
    Universidade Federal do Paraná
    Federal University of Paraná is a university headquartered in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil.Established on December 19, 1912 and initially named as Universidade do Paraná , the Universidade Federal do Paraná – UFPR is regarded as the oldest Brazilian university.In 1920, the federal government split...

     had been created almost a decade before, in 1912;
  • The commemoration of the first centenary of independence.
  • The opening of the first radio station in Brazil.
  • The substitution of the pound
    Currency
    In economics, currency refers to a generally accepted medium of exchange. These are usually the coins and banknotes of a particular government, which comprise the physical aspects of a nation's money supply...

     for the dollar
    Dollar
    The dollar is the name of the official currency of many countries, including Australia, Belize, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States.-Etymology:...

     as the basis of the nation's monetary standard.
  • The construction of more than 1000 km of railroads in the south of Brazil.
  • The nomination of a civilian – the historian Pandiá Calógeras – for Minister of War.
  • The defeat of the 18 of the Fort of Copacabana Revolt.
  • Successful inroads into creating public works to lessen the droughts of the Northeast region.

Last years

After leaving the presidency, Epitácio Pessoa was elected to be a Justice of the Permanent Court of International Justice at The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...

, and stayed on the bench until November 1930. From 1924 up until the Revolution of 1930, he was a senator for Paraíba
Paraíba
Paraíba Paraíba Paraíba (Tupi: pa'ra a'íba: "bad to navigation"; Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: is a state of Brazil. It is located in the Brazilian Northeast, and is bordered by Rio Grande do Norte to the north, Ceará to the west, Pernambuco to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the east...

. He supported the revolution, which implemented the ideals of earlier Army revolts.
The assassination of his nephew João Pessoa
João Pessoa
João Pessoa , is the capital city of the state of Paraíba, was founded in 1585 and sometimes called the city where the sun rises first, is a Brazilian city and the easternmost city in the Americas at 34º47'38"W, 7º9'28"S. Local residents call its easternmost point Ponta do Seixas. It is also...

 was a strong emotional blow to Epitácio, and in its aftermath he retired from public life. In 1937, he began to show signs of declining health. He developed Parkinson's Disease
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...

 and severe heart problems. Epitácio Pessoa would live until February 13, 1942, when he died in Nova Betânia, part of Petrópolis
Petrópolis
Petrópolis , also known as The Imperial City of Brazil, is a town in the state of Rio de Janeiro, about 65 km from the city of Rio de Janeiro....

 (Rio de Janeiro). In 1965 his remains, along with those of his wife, were transported to João Pessoa
João Pessoa
João Pessoa , is the capital city of the state of Paraíba, was founded in 1585 and sometimes called the city where the sun rises first, is a Brazilian city and the easternmost city in the Americas at 34º47'38"W, 7º9'28"S. Local residents call its easternmost point Ponta do Seixas. It is also...

, Paraíba
Paraíba
Paraíba Paraíba Paraíba (Tupi: pa'ra a'íba: "bad to navigation"; Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: is a state of Brazil. It is located in the Brazilian Northeast, and is bordered by Rio Grande do Norte to the north, Ceará to the west, Pernambuco to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the east...

 for reinternment.

Academia Paraibana de Letras

Pessoa is the patron of chair no. 31 of the Academia Paraibana de Letras, which was founded by Father Francisco Lima. It is currently occupied by Angela Bezerra de Castro.

Composition of the government

Vice-presidents:
  • Delfim Moreira da Costa Ribeiro
  • Francisco Álvaro Bueno de Paiva


Ministers:
  • Agriculture, Industry and Commerce: Ildefonso Simões Lopes, José Pires do Rio – intern
  • Finance: Homero Batista
  • War: Alfredo Pinto Vieira de Melo – intern, João Pandiá Calógeras, João Pedro da Veiga Miranda – intern
  • Justice: Alfredo Pinto Vieira de Melo, Joaquim Ferreira Chaves – intern
  • Navy: Raul Soares de Moura, Joaquim Ferreira Chaves, João Pedro da Veiga Miranda
  • Foreign Relations: José Manuel de Azevedo Marques
  • Transport and Public Works: José Pires do Rio

External links


See also

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