Francisco de Paula Rodrigues Alves, PC (; 7 July 1848 – 16 January 1919) was a Brazilian politician who first served as president of the Province of São Paulo in 1887, then as Treasury minister in the 1890s. Rodrigues Alves was elected the fifth

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 ...

in 1902 and served until 1906. During this term he remodeled the then Brazilian capital,

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 ...

, an effort punctuated by the 1904 "

Vaccine Revolt The Vaccine Revolt () was a popular riot that took place between 10 and 16 November 1904 in the city of Rio de Janeiro, then the capital of Brazil. Its immediate pretext was a law that made vaccination against smallpox compulsory, but it is also ...

". He was elected president for a second term in 1918, but died in the influenza pandemic before assuming power, on 16 January 1919. He was succeeded by his vice-president, Delfim Moreira.

Biography

Rodrigues Alves was born in the city of

Guaratinguetá Guaratinguetá is a municipality in the state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo in Brazil. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of Vale do Paraíba e Litoral Norte. The population is 122,505 (2020 est.) in an area of 752.64 km2. It is locate ...

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 ...

. He graduated as a lawyer from the '' Faculdade de Direito do Largo de São Francisco'',

, in 1870. His public career started as councilman in his native city, from 1866 to 1870. He became prosecutor in 1870. In 1872 he became a member of the state house of representatives until 1879. Also during the period of the

Empire of Brazil The Empire of Brazil was a 19th-century state that broadly comprised the territories which form modern Brazil and Uruguay until the latter achieved independence in 1828. The empire's government was a Representative democracy, representative Par ...

, he took office as president of the province of São Paulo, from 1887 until 1888. After the proclamation of the Republic, he was a member of the Constitutional Assembly, and also a member of the house of representatives (1891/1893). He occupied the position of Treasury Secretary twice, from 1891 to 1892 and from 1894 to 1896. He assumed his second mandate as state president in São Paulo from 1 May 1900 to 13 February 1902). On February 13 he resigned to run for Brazil's presidency. He was elected to rule as

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

's 5th president from 1902 to 1906. He distinguished himself as a great city planner and public financier. He applied his experience in the re-urbanization of the capital of the Republic,

. He ran again for the presidency in 1918, won the election with over 99% of the vote, and was scheduled to take office on 15 November 1918. He was unable to do so because of illness, and he died on 16 January 1919, a victim of the

Spanish flu The 1918–1920 flu pandemic, also known as the Great Influenza epidemic or by the common misnomer Spanish flu, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 subtype of the influenza A virus. The earliest docum ...

epidemic of 1918–1919. 40 years later in 1959, his grand-nephew, Carlos Alberto Alves de Carvalho Pinto, assumed his title of state president in São Paulo where he was the president of the state for 4 years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodrigues Alves, Francisco De Paula 1848 births 1919 deaths Brazilian people of Portuguese descent Deaths from the Spanish flu pandemic Governors of São Paulo (state) Infectious disease deaths in Rio de Janeiro (state) Ministers of finance of Brazil Ministers of justice of Brazil People from Guaratinguetá Presidents of Brazil Republican Party of São Paulo politicians Coffee with milk politics politicians University of São Paulo alumni Elected officials who died without taking their seats