Epitacio Pessoa was the 11th president of Brazil who ruled the country from 1919 to 1922, during the period known as República Velha, after the brief mandate of Delfim Moreira from Minas Gerais, thus breaking with the political system called “coffee with milk” whose oligarchy from São Paulo and mining alternated power. In addition, Epitácio stood out as a jurist and professor of law and was also patron of chair n° 31 of the Paraiba Academy of Letters.
To learn more:Old Republic and Coffee with Milk Policy.
Epitácio Pessoa was the 11th president of Brazil
Biography
Epitácio Lindolfo da Silva Pessoa was born in Umbuzeiro, a municipality in Paraíba, on May 23, 1865. He was raised by his uncle, the Barão de Lucena , at the time Governor of Pernambuco, because he was orphaned at age 7. His parents died of smallpox. He studied at the Ginásio Pernambucano, and later, decided to follow in the footsteps of his uncle, Henrique de Lucena, entering the Faculty of Law of the Federal University of Pernambuco, where he remained until 1886.
He taught law classes at the Faculty of Recife and therefore moved to Rio de Janeiro. He later held political positions in Europe, where he marries Maria da Conceição de Manso Saião. He died in Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro, on February 13, 1942, a victim of heart problems, in addition to Parkinson's disease, which had worsened.
Epitacio Pessoa's government
Epitácio had a strong political career, holding the positions of Public Prosecutor in the city of Bom Jardim, Federal Deputy, Senator of Paraíba, Minister of Justice, Minister of the Federal Supreme Court, Attorney General of the Republic, Minister of Justice and Interior Affairs, Minister of Industry, Transport and Public Works and Judge of the International Court of The Hague (International Court of Justice), in the Netherlands, until 1930.
Even though he was in Europe (France), where he led the Brazilian delegation to the Peace Conference (1918-1919), in Versailles, he disputed the presidency of the country, for the Partido Republicano Mineiro (PRM), against Rui Barbosa (1849-1923), winning with 286,373 votes against 116,414 votes for his opponent. He took office when he returned to Brazil on July 28, 1919.
When he took power, World War I had ended in Europe. His government was marked by several problems of a social, political and economic nature, reflected in strikes, military uprisings, such as the tenentist movement, where the “Revolta dos 18 do Forte de Copacabana” on July 5, 1922 stands out. led by lieutenants and soldiers unhappy with the arrest of Hermes da Fonseca, former president of the Republic.
Faced with the dissatisfaction of coffee farmers, Epitacio introduced a policy of spending measures, as well as several infrastructure works in the northeast (construction of railways, wells, dams, among others), with the aim of combating the drought that was ravaging the region; and, with the construction of 500 km of railway lines, to offer better conditions of access to the northeastern hinterland. In addition, the president invested in the south of the country, with the construction of more than 1,000 km of railways.
He supported Getúlio Vargas (1882-1954) in the 1930 military coup, which became known as the 1930 Revolution, which deposed the president who held the position in the country:Washington Luís. His nephew João Pessoa (1878-1930), nominated candidate for Vice President of the Republic, was assassinated by the lawyer and journalist João Duarte Dantas (1888-1930), an act that brought Vargas to power.
Deeply depressed by the death of his nephew, he gradually withdraws from public life. He ended his term as President of the Republic, on November 15, 1922, which was succeeded by the miner Artur Bernardes, who ruled the country from 1922 to 1926.
Complete your research by reading the articles:
- Hermes da Fonseca,
- Rui Barbosa,
- Revolution of 1930 and
- Tenentism