Afonso Celso, Viscount of Ouro Preto explained

Viscount of Ouro Preto
Office:Prime Minister of Brazil
Term Start:7 June 1889
Term End:15 November 1889
Predecessor:João Alfredo
Successor:Office abolished
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Office1:Minister of Finance
Term Start1:7 June 1889
Term End1:15 November 1889
Primeminister1:Himself
Predecessor1:João Alfredo
Successor1:Ruy Barbosa
Term Start2:8 February 1879
Term End2:28 March 1880
Primeminister2:Viscount of Sinimbu
Predecessor2:Silveira Martins
Successor2:José Antônio Saraiva
Office3:Minister of the Navy
Term Start3:3 August 1866
Term End3:16 July 1868
Primeminister3:Zacarias de Góis
Predecessor3:Silveira Lobo
Successor3:Baron of Cotegipe
Office4:Senator for Minas Gerais
Term Start4:26 April 1879
Term End4:15 November 1889
Appointer4:Pedro II
Office5:General Deputy for Minas Gerais
Term Start5:1 February 1877
Term End5:26 April 1879
Term Start6:1 January 1864
Term End6:18 July 1868
Birth Date:2 February 1836
Birth Place:Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Empire of Brazil
Death Place:Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Party:Liberal
Children:6
Father:João Antônio Afonso
Mother:Maria Madalena de Figueiredo
Alma Mater:Faculty of Law of Largo de São Francisco
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Coat of Arms of the Viscount of Ouro Preto

Afonso Celso de Assis Figueiredo, Viscount of Ouro Preto (2 February 1836 – 21 February 1912) was a Brazilian politician, and the last Prime Minister of the Empire of Brazil.

Biography

Personal life

Afonso Celso was born in Ouro Preto, then capital of the province of Minas Gerais. He married on 6 January 1859 with Francisca de Paula Martins de Toledo (1839–1916), daughter of the Colonel of the National Guard and counselor Joaquim Floriano de Toledo, and his second wife, Ana Margarida da Graça Martins. From the marriage between the Viscount of Ouro Preto and Francisca de Paula was born the immortal Count Afonso Celso de Assis Figueiredo Júnior, who came to found the Jornal do Brasil (he would not have founded but collaborated for more than 30 years in the newspaper). Francisca de Paula was the sister of Carlota Martins de Toledo, wife of Jorge João Dodsworth, the second Baron of Javari. Dodsworth was the brother-in-law of the baron of Tefe and, therefore, uncle of Nair de Tefé, which was First Lady of Presidente Hermes da Fonseca.

His brother, Carlos Afonso de Assis Figueiredo, was Minister of War and president of the province of Rio de Janeiro. The Viscount of Ouro Preto wrote a work of history about the first ten years of the Republic.

Career

Member of the Liberal Party, Afonso Celso was elected senator by the province of Minas Gerais and took office on 26 April 1879. He also held the positions of Secretary of Police, Inspector of the Provincial Treasury and procurator of the Treasury. Having been provincial deputy in two terms and general deputy for Minas Gerais four times.

Still in the Empire, the viscount of Ouro Preto, convicted monarchist, embraced the abolitionist cause. As senator, he created a tax of 20 réis on the price of tram tickets, a fact that generated great agitation in Rio de Janeiro, known as the "Revolta do Vintém", in January 1880.

He published, among other works, the squadron and the parliamentary opposition and Advent of the military dictatorship. He was awarded the Viscount's nobiliarchic title with greatness on 13 June 1888 by Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil, who was acting as regent.

He was Minister of the Navy and of the Treasury and member of the Council of State. It presided over the last Council of Ministers of the Empire. Assis Figueiredo was arrested on 15 November 1889 at Campo de Santana Headquarters, on the day of the proclamation of the republic, with the whole ministry, and then exiled with the Brazilian Imperial Family.

Later life

He lived in exile until 1892, a year after the Emperor's death, when he was allowed to return and decided not to pursue a career in republican politics.

At the beginning of the 20th century, after the proclamation of the republic, he was professor of Civil and Commercial Law at the Free School of Legal and Social Sciences of Rio de Janeiro. He was one of the most important politicians of the Second Reign of the Empire of Brazil and great friend of Emperor Pedro II.

He died in Rio de Janeiro in 1912 at 76 years of age. He was buried in the São João Baptista cemetery.