Manuel Deodoro da Fonseca (; 5 August 1827 – 23 August 1892) was a Brazilian politician and military officer who served as the Head of Provisional Government and the first

president of Brazil The president of Brazil (), officially the president of the Federative Republic of Brazil () or simply the ''President of the Republic'', is the head of state and head of government of Brazil. The president leads the executive branch of the ...

. He was born in

Alagoas Alagoas () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil and is situated in the eastern part of the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region. It borders: Pernambuco (N and NW); Sergipe (S); Bahia (SW); and the Atlantic Ocean (E). Its capital is ...

in a military family, followed a military career, and became a national figure. Fonseca took office as provisional president after heading a military coup that deposed Emperor Pedro II and established the

First Brazilian Republic The First Brazilian Republic, also referred to as the Old Republic (, ), officially the Republic of the United States of Brazil, was the Brazilian state in the period from 1889 to 1930. The Old Republic began with the coup d'état that deposed ...

in 1889, disestablishing the

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

. After his election in 1891, he stepped down the same year under great political pressure when he dissolved the National Congress. He died less than a year later.

Early life

Fonseca was born the third child of a large military family on 5 August 1827 in Alagoas da Lagoa do Sul,

, a town that now bears his name as Marechal Deodoro, in

Northeast Brazil The Northeast Region of Brazil ( ) is one of the five official and political regions of Brazil, regions of the country according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Of Brazil's twenty-six states, it comprises nine: Maranhão, ...

. He was the son of Manuel Mendes da Fonseca Galvão (1785–1859) and his wife, Rosa Maria Paulina de Barros Cavalcanti (1802–1873). During the Brazilian Empire, his older brother, Severino Martins da Fonseca, was nominated the first Baron of Alagoas. Another notable relative was the Portuguese

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...

Francisco de Holanda Francisco de Holanda (c. 1517 – 19 June 1585) was a Portuguese artist, architect, and art essayist. He served as a court painter for the kings João III of Portugal and Sebastião of Portugal. He was an influential figure in the Portuguese Ren ...

(d. 1585), his remote uncle. Fonseca pursued a military career that was notable for his suppression of the Praieira revolt in Pernambuco in 1848, Brazil's response to that year's revolutions in Europe. He also saw action during the

Paraguayan War The Paraguayan War (, , ), also known as the War of the Triple Alliance (, , ), was a South American war that lasted from 1864 to 1870. It was fought between Paraguay and the Triple Alliance of Argentina, the Empire of Brazil, and Uruguay. It wa ...

(1864–1870), attaining the rank of captain. In 1884 he was promoted to the rank of

field marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...

, and he later achieved the rank of full marshal. His personal courage, military competence, and manly personal style made him a national figure.

Political career

As Governor of

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, ; ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative units of Brazil#List, fifth-most populous state and the List of Brazilian s ...

, Fonseca was courted by republican intellectuals such as

Benjamin Constant Henri-Benjamin Constant de Rebecque (25 October 1767 – 8 December 1830), or simply Benjamin Constant, was a Swiss and French political thinker, activist and writer on political theory and religion. A committed republican from 1795, Constant ...

and Ruy Barbosa in the café society of

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

. In 1886, alerted that the imperial government was ordering the arrest of prominent republicans, Fonseca went to

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

and assumed leadership of the army faction that supported the abolition of

slavery in Brazil Slavery in Brazil began long before the Colonial Brazil, first Portuguese settlement. Later, colonists were heavily dependent on indigenous labor during the initial phases of settlement to maintain the subsistence economy, and natives were of ...

. Emperor Pedro II had advocated the abolition of slavery for decades, freeing his own slaves in 1840, but he believed slavery should be done away with slowly to avoid damaging the Brazilian economy. The government, nominally headed by his daughter, Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil, abolished slavery entirely in 1888, during her third regency while her father was away from the country. Enraged oligarchs played a role in the subsequent coup d'état. Fonseca's prestige placed him at the head of the military coup that deposed the emperor on 15 November 1889, and he was briefly the head of the provisional government that called a Constituent Congress to draft a new constitution for a republic. Soon, however, he was in conflict with the civilian republican leaders. His election as president on 25 February 1891, by a narrow plurality, was backed with military pressure on Congress.

Provisional Government and Presidency of Brazil

The Fonseca administration, divided by political and personal animosity between Fonseca and Vice President

Floriano Peixoto Floriano Vieira Peixoto (; 30 April 1839 – 29 June 1895) was a Brazilian military and politician, a veteran of the Paraguayan War and several other conflicts, and the second president of Brazil. Born in (today a district of the city of ...

, encountered strong opposition within Congress, which chose a policy of obstruction. During the first months of his presidency, he permitted his ministers almost unrestricted control of their ministries. Arbitrary presidential decrees, such as the concession of the port of Torres to a private company and Decree 528, which opened the country to further immigration except by Africans, as well as the disastrous conduct of

economic policy ''Economic Policy'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by Oxford University Press, Oxford Academic on behalf of the Centre for Economic Policy Research, the Center for Economic Studies (University of Munich), and the Paris Scho ...

during the

bubble Bubble, Bubbles or The Bubble may refer to: Common uses * Bubble (physics), a globule of one substance in another, usually gas in a liquid ** Soap bubble * Economic bubble, a situation where asset prices are much higher than underlying fundame ...

of the Encilhamento, strengthened the resistance in Congress, which coalesced around Peixoto and soured public opinion. That also caused republicans in the South to withdraw their support from the marshal and provisional government. The situation reached a crisis stage when Fonseca dissolved the National Congress and declared a "state of emergency" on 3 November 1891. A group of deputies opposed the decision and found support among the high-ranking officers of the Navy, including Admiral Custódio José de Melo. The marshal found himself on the brink of a civil war. On 23 November 1891, he signed a resignation to no one in particular and turned over the presidency to Peixoto.

Death

He died in Rio de Janeiro on 23 August 1892. He was stricken with perilous bouts of

dyspnea Shortness of breath (SOB), known as dyspnea (in AmE) or dyspnoea (in BrE), is an uncomfortable feeling of not being able to breathe well enough. The American Thoracic Society defines it as "a subjective experience of breathing discomfort that ...

, popularly referred to as "shortness of breath", and was buried in a family grave in the Caju Cemetery. However, in 1937, his remains were unearthed and transferred to a monument in Praça Paris, Rio de Janeiro.

Gallery

File:Henrique Bernardelli - Retrato do General Deodoro da Fonseca.jpg, Military coup of 1889 on 15 November 1889 File:Deodoro da Fonseca sak.jpg, Marshal Fonseca in 1889, by Bror Kronstrand File:Fechamento das Câmaras - Au revoir.jpg, ''Fechamento do Congresso'' by Angelo Agostini (1892) File:Monumento marechal deodoro rio.jpg, Tomb monument of Deodoro da Fonseca in Rio de Janeiro. File:(Marechal Deodoro da Fonseca), da Coleção Brasiliana Iconográfica.jpg, ''Marechal Deodoro da Fonseca'' engraved by Modesto Brocos (1890)

In popular culture

Fonseca has been portrayed twice by Brazilian actor and voice actor in the miniseries ''Abolição'' (1988) and ''República'' (1989) respectively.

Notes

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fonseca, Deodoro Da 1827 births 1892 deaths Leaders who took power by coup Marshals of Brazil Brazilian people of Portuguese descent Brazilian military personnel of the Paraguayan War Presidents of Brazil People from Alagoas Brazilian monarchists 19th-century Brazilian politicians Candidates for President of Brazil 19th-century Brazilian male writers Brazilian abolitionists Brazilian Roman Catholics Generalissimos