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Prudente de Morais

President of Brazil from 1894 to 1898

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Morais was born in Itu, São Paulo, in 1841. His father, José Marcelino de Barros, was murdered by a slave when Prudente was three years old. Raised in Piracicaba after his mother's remarriage to major Caetano José Gomes Carneiro, Morais graduated from the Faculty of Law of São Paulo in 1863. Returning to Piracicaba, he established a law firm and soon joined the Liberal Party, serving as a municipal councilor and later as provincial deputy. In the 1870s he joined the Republican cause, taking part in the foundation of the Republican Party of São Paulo and becoming one of the most prominent leaders of the republican propaganda in São Paulo. In 1866, he married Adelaide Benvinda da Silva Gordo, with whom he had seven children, including Prudente de Morais Filho, who later became a politician. After the fall of the monarchy, Morais was part of the governing junta of São Paulo and was then appointed governor of the state. In 1890 he became senator, and the following year presided over the Constituent Assembly that promulgated Brazil's first republican Constitution, which instituted a federal system.

Elected president of Brazil in 1894, Morais took office in a climate of severe political instability following the country's first military presidencies, marked by the 1894 Naval Revolt in the capital and the Federalist Revolution in southern Brazil, which ended in the first year of his term. His government also faced the War of Canudos, a peasant revolt in Bahia's hinterland crushed by the Brazilian Army in 1897, and an assassination attempt that same year. On the international front, his administration restored diplomatic relations with Portugal after mediation by Queen Victoria, settled disputes with Italy and France in Amapá, signed a treaty with Japan to encourage immigration, and resolved a border dispute with Argentina through arbitration by U.S. president Grover Cleveland, which was favorable to Brazil. He also dealt with the financial aftermath of the Encilhamento by negotiating the first funding loan with British bankers. After completing his term, Morais returned to Piracicaba, where he remained active in politics until his death in 1902.

Early life

Education

Born on 4 October 1841 in Itu, São Paulo Province, Prudente José de Morais Barros was the son of José Marcelino de Barros and Catarina Maria de Morais. At the age of three he lost his father, who was murdered by a slave at the family's estate known as Moinho. The perpetrator was later sentenced to death by a jury, in what became the last execution carried out in that district. His mother then married major Caetano José Gomes Carneiro, described as a man of "routine and backward spirit", and the family moved to Piracicaba.

After receiving his first schooling from his mother, Morais enrolled in 1855 at the Delgado School at the age of 14, newly founded in Itu by the educator Manoel Estanislau Delgado, but the institution closed the following year. Morais aspired to move to São Paulo, where he could take preparatory courses for the Faculty of Law, but his stepfather was against his decision, despite the expenses being covered by the inheritance left by his father. With the help of his mother, Morais was able to move to the provincial capital in April 1857, where he enrolled at João Carlos da Fonseca's school. There he studied under notable professors José Vieira Couto de Magalhães and João Baptista Cortines Laxe. In November 1858 he took his last preparatory exams and in 1859 he enrolled in the Faculty of Law.

During his studies at the Faculty of Law, Morais was a colleague of Campos Sales, Bernardino de Campos, Rangel Pestana, and Francisco Quirino dos Santos. Like many other leaders of Brazil's early republican period, in the faculty Morais joined the Bucha, a secret student society of a liberal, abolitionist, and republican nature founded by professor Julius Frank and inspired by the German Burschenschaft associations. Morais graduated with a Legal and Social Sciences degree in 1863 and returned to Piracicaba the following year, where he opened a law firm and began to work as an attorney.

Marriage and family

Prudente de Morais married Adelaide Benvinda da Silva Gordo on 18 May 1866 in Santos. Adelaide was the daughter of Antônio José da Silva Gordo. Morais' older brother, Manuel de Morais Barros, was already married to Adelaide's sister, Maria Inês. Adelaide's younger brother, Adolfo Afonso da Silva Gordo, was also active in politics and married first Ana, the granddaughter of senator Nicolau Vergueiro, and later Albertina Vieira de Carvalho, daughter of jurist Joaquim José Vieira de Carvalho and sister of Arnaldo Vieira de Carvalho, founder of the Faculty of Medicine of São Paulo.

Together Prudente and Adelaide had seven children, including Gustavo de Morais e Barros and Prudente José de Morais e Barros Filho, both of whom enlisted as volunteers during the Federalist Revolt, marching to Itararé to defend it against the rebels. Several members of the extended Morais family later held political office, such as his son Prudente Filho, his relative Paulo de Morais Barros, and his son-in-law João Sampaio.

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