99 Facts About Afonso Pena

Afonso Augusto Moreira Pena, often referred to as Afonso Pena, was a Brazilian lawyer, professor, and politician who served as the sixth president of Brazil, from 1906 until his death in 1909.

Afonso Pena was the first politician from Minas Gerais to win the presidency, ending the series of politicians from Sao Paulo who had held the presidency since 1894.

Afonso Pena was the only member of Emperor Pedro II's cabinet to become president of Brazil and the first Brazilian president to die in office.

Afonso Pena was born in Santa Barbara, Minas Gerais, in 1847.

Afonso Pena's father, Domingos Jose Teixeira Pena, was a Portuguese immigrant who owned slaves and a gold mine.

Afonso Pena was elected for the position in 1891 and presided over the commission that was tasked with drafting the constitution.

Afonso Pena became president of Brazil in 1906 after an uncontested single-candidate election.

Afonso Pena was the first Brazilian president to advocate intervening in the coffee economy, putting into practice the Taubate Agreement, after which the federal government began to buy production surplus in order to maintain the high price of coffee in international markets.

Afonso Pena's government promoted the expansion of railways and immigration, the modernization and reorganization of the Brazilian Army with the introduction of the Sortition Law, and the rearmament of the Brazilian Navy, with the acquisition of new ships.

Afonso Pena supported Candido Rondon's expeditions in the Amazon rainforest, which linked it to Rio de Janeiro by telegraph.

Afonso Pena died from severe pneumonia in 1909, being succeeded by Nilo Pecanha.

Afonso Pena's mother came from an influential family in Santa Barbara politics.

The school, isolated from major urban centers, was maintained by the Lazarist priests, and Afonso Pena's father was one of its most prominent creditors.

Afonso Pena finished his studies in the Caraca School on 16 January 1864 and later moved to the city of Sao Paulo to study at the Faculty of Law in 1866, which, together with the Faculty of Law of Recife, formed the country's intelligentsia at the time.

In 1870 Afonso Pena became, alongside Rodrigues Alves, an editor in chief of the faculty's journal Imprensa Academica after a close election.

Afonso Pena maintained contact with other Bucha members, even after finishing his studies at the faculty.

Afonso Pena was an adept of natural law and an opponent of positivism, as he was a fervent Catholic and sympathetic to the monarchy in Brazil.

Afonso Pena's ideas distanced him from the Brazilian positivists, who defended the separation of Church and State and the creation of a military republic in the country.

Afonso Pena supported the former but not the latter, refusing to sign the 1870 Republican Manifesto, as he considered Brazil was not ready for a regime change.

Afonso Pena graduated with a Law degree on 23 October 1870.

Afonso Pena married Maria Guilhermina de Oliveira on 23 January 1875.

Afonso Pena inherited properties from his parents, including a gold mine, which he sold by the end of the 19th century, as its gold production had declined.

Afonso Pena had a textile factory, which he sold in the 1900s, as well as several investments in Brazil and abroad.

Afonso Pena joined the Liberal Party in 1874, beginning his political career that same year and being elected provincial deputy to the 20th legislature in Minas Gerais.

Afonso Pena remained in this office until 1878, being successively reelected to the 21st and 22nd legislatures, when he was elected general deputy, beginning his term in the Chamber of Deputies in the 17th legislature.

The party's rise to power had not occurred on its own merit, and Afonso Pena alerted his companions to its unstable position.

Afonso Pena was against this path, joining a dissident wing within the party.

Dissatisfied with the reduction in the number of voters, Afonso Pena later criticized the law, declaring that "an electorate of 142,000 citizens cannot be the electorate of this Empire, which has 12 million inhabitants".

In 1882, Afonso Pena took a leave of absence from his position as general deputy, beginning his experience in executive positions after being appointed Minister of War in the cabinet of prime minister Martinho Campos at the age of 35.

Afonso Pena was one of only two civilians to hold the office, the other being Pandia Calogeras.

Afonso Pena was successively reelected to the 18th, 19th, and 20th legislatures in the Chamber of Deputies.

Saraiva fell on 20 August 1885, being succeeded by the conservative Joao Mauricio Vanderlei, the Baron of Cotegipe, thus ending seven years of liberal rule and Afonso Pena's stay in the executive.

Afonso Pena was elected in his 3rd district with 615 votes out of 863 electors.

In opposition, Afonso Pena became a staunch critic of the government, monitoring and analyzing all its actions: the signing of railway contracts, public works, the soil examination in Rio de Janeiro, etc.

Afonso Pena went along with his party in parliamentary debates regarding slavery; Minas Gerais' politicians feared abolition could harm the province's economy, which largely relied on coffee.

Afonso Pena Celso defined his program as "making the Republic useless".

Afonso Pena Celso implemented a network of issuing banks, with the aim of stimulating the economy, which led to unbridled speculation, known as the "Encilhamento".

Afonso Pena thought about abandoning politics to resume his law career.

Afonso Pena remained a convinced monarchist and continued to defend the emperor, whom he considered to be a man of "great knowledge and deeds".

Afonso Pena had become one of the most prestigious politicians of the Empire.

Afonso Pena was then elected for the 1st legislature in the state's senate, helping in Minas Gerais' transition from province to state by ameliorating its political conflicts and presiding over the commission that was tasked with drafting the state's constitution.

The final constitutional draft, promulgated on 15 June 1891 with several amendments proposed by Afonso Pena, granted more autonomy for the municipalities, as he had envisioned years before, and established a bicameral legislature, with the senators being elected by direct vote; it provided for the creation of a new state capital to replace Ouro Preto.

The change of the capital from Ouro Preto was the most controversial point; Afonso Pena was in favor of moving the capital and proposed to postpone the decision until a commission of specialists presented the new possible locations.

Afonso Pena proposed that members of the judiciary be appointed through public competition, instead of according to political adherence, as had been the case until then; this stance was in line with his preference for personal ability instead of nominations being political, although it is not possible to say he did not made nominations based on political criteria rather than individual merit during his political career.

Afonso Pena defended the expansion of railways in Minas Gerais and the organization of public education.

Afonso Pena was against what he called empregomania, that is, students' excessive preference, at the time, for public jobs, which consumed public finances.

Deodoro da Fonseca dissolved Congress on 3 November 1891 and Afonso Pena resigned his position in the state senate in protest, arguing that "the coexistence of constitutional powers with the state of dictatorship proclaimed by president Deodoro da Fonseca was incompatible".

Afonso Pena then emerged as the only one capable of restoring stability to the state, being chosen by consensus of its different political currents to succeed Alvim.

Afonso Pena ran for president of Minas Gerais, on a single ticket, and became the first democratically elected president of the state by direct vote on 30 June 1892, with a total of 48 thousand votes.

Colonel Carlos Teles, commander of the 31st battalion, intended to overthrow Afonso Pena and take over the state government.

Aware of the plot and feeling his position threatened, Afonso Pena decided to send a letter to Peixoto, asking the president to directly intervene with the colonel.

Afonso Pena spoke out against the rebels and in favor of the government, with the aim of keeping Minas Gerais away from conflicts.

Afonso Pena went as far as to offer the federal government the help of the Public Force of Minas Gerais, if necessary.

Afonso Pena sent a letter to the president, dated 23 January 1894, warning him of the need to ensure that the next elections took place normally.

Afonso Pena's actions dissipated the threat of a federal intervention in Minas Gerais.

Afonso Pena was the founder of the Free Faculty of Law of Minas Gerais, in Ouro Preto, on 13 November 1892, being elected the Faculty's first director, and was a teacher at the institution, lecturing on financial sciences and public accounting.

Afonso Pena ceded public buildings, set up committees in municipalities to raise funds, gave up his rest [time] as president of the State to prepare classes, as well as his pay for services provided to the faculty.

Afonso Pena preferred Belo Horizonte, but the Congressional Committee tasked with analyzing the two options opined in favor of Varzea do Marcal, which was preferred by deputies from the south of the state.

Afonso Pena sought to improve the state's economy by solving some of its most immediate issues; these included the loss of income in coffee exports due to the fact that, by being a landlocked state, Minas Gerais' production had to be exported through the port of Rio de Janeiro, which kept the tax revenues.

At that time, Afonso Pena defended the taxation of imported goods as a way to promote local production.

Afonso Pena began to envision the state as a modernizing actor, with the role of promoting economic growth.

Afonso Pena adopted a more proactive state action by promoting immigration to Minas Gerais, in particular German immigration, whose immigrants were perceived as skilled labors, necessary for the development of the state.

Afonso Pena left the government of Minas Gerais on 7 September 1894, being succeeded by Bias Fortes.

Afonso Pena only accepted the position of president of the Bank of the Republic, the current Bank of Brazil, which he held from 1895 to 1898; it was the main Brazilian banking institution at the time.

Afonso Pena's appointment was due to the fact that Rodrigues Alves, then Brazil's Minister of Finance, was his colleague from the Faculty of Law; together they worked to solve the economic crisis caused by the Encilhamento through a set of reforms that sought to contain government spending, restore the country's credit, and revalue the currency's exchange rate.

Afonso Pena left the presidency of the bank on 14 November 1898.

Afonso Pena returned to Minas Gerais in 1899 and resumed his position as teacher and director at the Faculty of Law.

Afonso Pena's decision caused discontent among the dominant oligarchies of several states, which launched their own pre-candidates, including Afonso Pena.

Afonso Pena responded a few weeks later, making clear his disagreement with the perpetuation of Sao Paulo politicians in power and with the government's intention to control the succession process.

Afonso Pena's thinking aligned with that of Pinheiro Machado, an influential senator from Rio Grande do Sul, who sought to influence the presidential succession.

Several other pre-candidates were considered, but Afonso Pena seemed the strongest one.

The official launch of Afonso Pena's candidacy took place on 1 September 1905 with a manifesto written by Ruy Barbosa, which was read in the Senate and widely publicized in the press.

Afonso Pena presented his government program on 12 October 1905 in the Cassino Fluminense.

Afonso Pena ran as a single candidate, but electors were allowed to cast votes for anyone, even non-candidates.

In Porto Alegre, Afonso Pena was received by students under the leadership of the then young student Getulio Vargas, who gave a speech on their behalf.

From Rio Grande do Sul, Afonso Pena departed to Rio de Janeiro, where he arrived on 22 August 1906, heading to Belo Horizonte, the final destination, the next day.

Afonso Pena became the sixth president of Brazil after being inaugurated on 15 November 1906.

The latter group, which was behind Afonso Pena's election, felt excluded from the ministerial nominations.

In 1906, wanting to secure the occupation of Acre, which had been incorporated into Brazil following the Acre War, Afonso Pena ordered the expansion of telegraph lines from Mato Grosso to the Madeira River valley, and then to Acre, the Purus and Jurua rivers, and finally Manaus.

The bill for its creation was then approved in Congress on 6 December 1906 and signed by Afonso Pena, already sworn in office.

Afonso Pena conditioned the federal guarantee for the loan on meeting the demands of coffee growers from Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, who produced inferior quality coffee, and on Sao Paulo's support for David Campista as his successor for the 1910 elections.

In line with his concerns about industrialization and military strengthening, Afonso Pena appointed Hermes da Fonseca as minister of war; upon taking office, Fonseca warned the president that conditions in the Brazilian Army were "woeful".

Afonso Pena appointed Alexandrino Faria de Alencar to replace Noronha, and the program was modified in 1907, with the three projected 13,000 ton ironclads being changed to the new "Dreadnought" type battleships, which were significantly heavier.

On 5 January 1907 Afonso Pena signed Decree No 1,637 that granted workers the right to create unions and cooperatives.

The Central do Brasil Railway planned its arrival at the Sao Francisco River, an old ambition since the Brazilian Empire, and in his message to Congress in 1909, Afonso Pena announced the completion of the Madeira-Mamore Railway.

Afonso Pena nominated the Baron of Rio Branco, Brazil's "Bismarckian" minister, to the ministry of foreign affairs, an office Paranhos had occupied since 1902.

Afonso Pena's position became clear when discussing the creation of an Arbitration Court of Justice, during which he argued that such a court was of interest of all nations and that the nomination of its members should take place regardless of each country's relative importance.

David Morethson Campista, nominated by Afonso Pena to succeed him in the presidency, was rejected by groups supporting Hermes da Fonseca.

Afonso Pena tried to nominate Campos Sales and Rodrigues Alves, but without success.

Afonso Pena died in the afternoon of 14 June 1909 at the Catete Palace, from severe pneumonia, the symptoms of which had worsened the night before.

Barbara Lima remarked that Afonso Pena was the only member of emperor Pedro II's cabinet to become president of Brazil.

For minister Tavares de Lira, Afonso Pena was a "vigilant and helpful man", remarking that the president was "a true representative of the old school of Imperial statesmen".

In Steven Topik's evaluation, Afonso Pena's government "represented a fusion of the interventionist tendencies of the [Brazilian] Empire with the new realities of the Republic", pointing out that the president was of developmentalist thought.

Likewise, for Claudia Viscardi, out of all the presidents of the First Brazilian Republic, Afonso Pena was the most committed to the country's industrial development, while not ignoring its predominant agricultural interests.

Years later, Mario Casasanta, a teacher at the faculty, remarked that "Afonso Pena created a true school, and it is no small reason for glory for this generation that it managed to preserve it, to the best of its structure, because the presence of the ideals that nourished its founder's soul can still be felt within it".

Afonso Pena lends his name to the most important avenue in the city.

Afonso Pena lends his name to an important avenue in Porto Velho, Rondonia.

Afonso Pena is honored in Sao Jose dos Pinhais, Parana, the city's main airport, Afonso Pena International Airport being named for him.

On 13 February 2009, the mausoleum and remains of Afonso Pena, his wife, and three of their children were transferred from the Sao Joao Batista Cemetery, in Rio de Janeiro, to the old colonial house where he was born, in the historic center of Santa Barbara.