Manuel do Nascimento Vargas (25 November 1844 – 21 October 1943) was a Brazilian military officer and politician who is best known as the father of president

Getúlio Vargas Getúlio Dornelles Vargas (; 19 April 1882 – 24 August 1954) was a Brazilian lawyer and politician who served as the 14th and 17th president of Brazil, from 1930 to 1945 and from 1951 to 1954. Due to his long and controversial tenure as Braz ...

. He served as mayor of

São Borja São Borja is a city in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. São Borja is the oldest municipality in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul and was founded in 1682 by the Jesuits as the first of the Seven Points of the Missions, and name ...

from 1907 to 1911.

Biography

Vargas was born on 25 November 1844 in

Passo Fundo Passo Fundo is a municipality in the north of the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. It is named after its river. It's the twelfth largest city in the state with an estimated population of 204,722 inhabitants living in a total municip ...

in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

of Rio Grande do Sul, in the

Empire of Brazil The Empire of Brazil was a 19th-century state that broadly comprised the territories which form modern Brazil and (until 1828) Uruguay. Its government was a representative parliamentary constitutional monarchy under the rule of Emperors Dom ...

. He was one of fourteen children born to Luísa Maria Teresa Vargas, from Rio Pardo, and Evaristo José Vargas, from

Encruzilhada Encruzilhada is a municipality in the state of Bahia in the North-East region of Brazil. See also *List of municipalities in Bahia This is a list of the municipalities in the state of Bahia (BA), located in the Northeast Region of Brazil. Ba ...

. His father fought in the

Ragamuffin War The Ragamuffin War (Portuguese: ''Guerra dos Farrapos'' or ''Revolução Farroupilha'') was a Republican uprising that began in southern Brazil, in the province (current state) of Rio Grande do Sul in 1835. The rebels were led by generals Ben ...

as a volunteer soldier of the

Riograndense Republic The Riograndense Republic, often called the Piratini Republic ( pt, República Rio-Grandense or ), was a ''de facto'' state that seceded from the Empire of Brazil and roughly coincided with the present state of Rio Grande do Sul. It was procl ...

. He enlisted in the Imperial Army as a

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non- ...

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 was the deadliest ...

. Having served with distinction, by the end of the conflict Vargas had reached the rank of

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

and gained recognition as a war hero. After the war he left the army and settled as a rancher ('' estancieiro'') in

, in the Argentine border, and in 1872 married Cândida Dornelles, member of a powerful local family. They had five children: Viriato, Protásio, Getúlio, Espártaco and Benjamim. By 1884, Vargas was the leader of the republican political club of São Borja and the city's leading

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

. On the proclamation of the Republic in 1889, Vargas became the head of the Rio-grandense Republican Party (''Partido Republicano Riograndense'') in São Borja. A few years later, in 1893, the

Federalist Revolution The Federalist Revolution ( Portuguese: ''Revolução Federalista'') was a civil war that took place in southern Brazil between 1893 and 1895, fought by the federalists, opponents of Rio Grande do Sul state president, Júlio de Castilhos, see ...

broke out in Rio Grande do Sul, an attempt by federalist rebels (known as "'' maragatos''") to overthrow the state governor,

Júlio de Castilhos Júlio de Castilhos is a municipality of the central part of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The population is 19,224 (2020 est.) in an area of 1,929.38 km². Its elevation is 529 m (Praça "João Vieira de Alvarenga"), 516 m at the ...

. As a partisan of Castilhos, Vargas rejoined the army in order to take part in the suppression of the revolt. He was wounded in battle in his hometown Passo Fundo in July 1894. During the war he was promoted to colonel by president

Floriano Peixoto Floriano Vieira Peixoto ( 30 April 1839 – 29 June 1895), born in Ipioca (today a district of the city of Maceió in the State of Alagoas), nicknamed the "Iron Marshal", was a Brazilian soldier and politician, a veteran of the Paragu ...

, and finally to

brigade general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed t ...

by Floriano's successor Prudente de Moraes. With the government's victory over the federalists in 1895, Vargas achieved both military and political prominence. In 1907 he was appointed municipal intendant (equivalent to modern

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...

) of São Borja by state governor

Borges de Medeiros Antônio Augusto Borges de Medeiros (19 November 1863 – 25 April 1961) was a Brazilian lawyer and politician, and the President of Rio Grande do Sul for a total of 25 years (1898–1908 and 1913–1928), during the period of Brazilian history ...

, an office he held until 1911. Vargas died on 21 October 1943 at Guanabara Palace, his son Getúlio's official residence as

president of Brazil The president of Brazil ( pt, Presidente do Brasil), officially the president of the Federative Republic of Brazil ( pt, Presidente da República Federativa do Brasil) or simply the ''President of the Republic'', is the head of state and head o ...

, in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of the same name, Brazil's List of Brazilian states by population, third-most populous state, and the List of largest citi ...

. His cause of death was attributed to

bronchopneumonia Bronchopneumonia is a subtype of pneumonia. It is the acute inflammation of the bronchi, accompanied by inflamed patches in the nearby lobules of the lungs. citing: Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2014 It is ofte ...

. At the time of his death, little over a month before turning 99, Vargas suffered from

blindness Visual impairment, also known as vision impairment, is a medical definition primarily measured based on an individual's better eye visual acuity; in the absence of treatment such as correctable eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment� ...

but remained lucid. He was buried next to his wife Cândida in São Borja.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vargas, Manuel do Nascimento 1844 births 1943 deaths Vargas family People from Passo Fundo Brazilian generals Rio Grande do Sul politicians Brazilian military personnel of the Paraguayan War Brazilian abolitionists