Rui Barbosa:biography and works

Rui Barbosa was a Brazilian intellectual, politician, lawyer, journalist, diplomat, speaker and writer.

One of the most important figures in the history of Brazil, he participated in the founding of the Academia Brasileira de Letras (ABL), of which he was president, after the death of Machado de Assis.

Defender of freedom, alongside Joaquim Nabuco , one of the most important abolitionists, Rui acted in the Abolitionist Campaign for the liberation of slaves. In addition, he proposed an electoral and education reform.

Biography

Son of João José Barbosa de Oliveira and Maria Adélia Barbosa de Almeida, Rui Barbosa de Oliveira was born in Salvador, on November 5, 1849.

He attended primary and secondary studies in his hometown. He entered the law course in Recife, moving to the capital of São Paulo, where he finished his studies at the Faculty of Law of São Paulo in 1870.

He went to live in Rio de Janeiro, where he practiced the profession of lawyer and journalist.

He had great political performance occupying several positions:Deputy of the Province of Bahia (1878), twice General Deputy (1878 to 1884), and five times elected Senator (1890-1921).

He was Minister of Finance in the Government of Deodoro da Fonseca. He ran for the Presidency of the Republic on two occasions (1910, against Hermes da Fonseca, and 1919, against Epitácio Pessoa), being defeated on both occasions.

When he ran for office alongside Hermes da Fonseca, Rui Barbosa launched his Presidential Campaign (1910) called “Civilist Campaign ”, which spread throughout the national territory.

In the campaign, he proposed civil order as well as a more effective policy for the country, thus demonstrating propriety and solidity in his speeches. In the intellectual's words:

Rui Barbosa remained in exile in Argentina, Lisbon, Paris and London, as he was involved in the Armada Revolution (1893).

He became known as the “Eagle of The Hague” as he stood out in the participation of the “Second International Peace Conference of The Hague”, held in 1907 in the Netherlands, in which he defended equality between nations.

He was later appointed Judge of the International Court in The Hague and, along with other intellectuals, was named one of the “seven sages of The Hague”. After the event, Rui declares:

Rui Barbosa died in Petrópolis, on March 1, 1923, at the age of 73.

Works

Owner of a vast intellectual production, Rui Barbosa wrote several works, composed of poems, articles, essays, speeches.

Among his works, the speech written for the graduates of the Faculty of Law of Largo São Francisco, called:“Oração aos Moços ” (1920). Below are some of his works:

• Castro Alves:Poet's Praise for Slaves (1881)
• Finance and Politics of the Republic:Speeches and Writings (1893)
• The Unconstitutional Acts of Congress and the Executive before the Federal Court (1893)
• Letters from England (1896)
• Possession of Personal Rights (1900)
• The Brazilian Civil Code (1904)
• The Northern Acre (1906)
• Brazil and Latin American Nations in The Hague (1908)
• The Right of the Amazon to Northern Acre (1910)
• Platform (1910)
• The Lawyer's Duty (1911)
• Problems of International Law (1916)
• Oswaldo Cruz (1917)

Sentences

• “Those who do not fight for their rights are not worthy of them .”
• “Freedom is not a luxury of good times; is the biggest element of stability .”
• “If the weak do not have the strength of arms, let them arm themselves with the strength of their right, with the affirmation of their right, giving themselves for it to all the necessary sacrifices so that the world does not ignore the character of entities worthy of existence in the international community .”
• “Laws are a brake on public crimes - religion for secret crimes .”
• “The sword is not order, but oppression; It's not tranquility, it's terror, it's not discipline, but anarchy is not morality, it's corruption, it's not the economy but bankruptcy .”
• “Teaching, like justice, like administration, prospers and lives much more really from truth and morality, with which it is practiced, than from the great innovations and beautiful reforms that are consecrated to it .”
• “I don't trade justice for pride. I do not leave the right by force. I do not forget the fraternity for tolerance. I don't replace faith with superstition, reality with idol .”

Curiosities

• In honor of Rui Barbosa, several streets, avenues and squares in the country bear his name.
• The Casa de Rui Barbosa Foundation, located in the neighborhood of Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro, is a federal public institution linked to the Ministry of Culture. There, it is where the intellectual lived and is currently used for research on his patron. The museum with furniture by Rui Barbosa is part of the complex, as well as the library that belonged to the jurist, composed of approximately 35 thousand copies.