Jos Paranhos, Viscount of Rio BrancoFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, search "Jos Paranhos" redirects

here. For Jos Maria da Silva Paranhos Jnior, see Jos Paranho Baron of Rio Branco. The Viscount of Rio Branco Jos Maria da Silva Paranhos, Viscount of Rio Branco, in 1879 President of the Council of Ministers In office 7 March 1871 C 25 June 1875 Monarch Pedro II Preceded by Jos Ant?nio Pimenta Bueno Succeeded by Lus Alves de Lima e Silva, Duke of Caxias Personal details Born (1819-03-16)16 March 1819 Salvador, Bahia, Kingdom of Brazil Died 1 November 1880(1880-11-01) (aged 61) Rio de Janeiro City, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Political party Liberal Party (1847C49) Conservative Party (1853C80) Spouse(s) Teresa de Figueiredo Faria Occupation Politician Religion Roman Catholic Signature Jos Maria da Silva Paranhos, the Viscount of Rio Branco (16 March 1819 C 1 November 1880) was a politician, monarchist,[1] diplomat, teacher and journalist of the Empire of Brazil (1822C1889). Rio Branco was born in Salvador, in what was then t he Captaincy of Bahia, to a wealthy family, but most of the fortune was lost aft er his parents' deaths early in his childhood. Rio Branco attended Brazil's Naval School and became a midshipman in 1841. Later that year he was enrolled in the Army's Military Academy, eventually becoming a n instructor there. Rather than continue to serve in the military, he became a p olitician in the Liberal Party. In 1845, he was elected a member of the provinci al house of representatives of Rio de Janeiro province, site of the national cap ital of the same name. Rio Branco rose to power within the province under the tu telage of Aureliano Coutinho, Viscount of Sepetibaa veteran politician who held tr emendous influence over the young and inexperienced Emperor Pedro II. He tempora rily abandoned politics after Aureliano Coutinho's fall from grace and the subse quent dissolution of the Liberal Party. Rio Branco's work in the press, highlighting threats posed by the armed conflict s in the Platine republics (Argentina and Uruguay), attracted the attention of H onrio Hermeto Carneiro Le?o, Marquis of Paran, who invited him to act as secretary o n a diplomatic mission to Montevideo. They were successful in forging alliances, which contributed to the eventual fall in 1852 of Juan Manuel de Rosas, an Arge ntine dictator who had declared war on Brazil. In 1853 Rio Branco joined the Mar quis of Paran's Conservative Party as well as the cabinet over which the latter pr esided. He rose rapidly through the Conservative ranks during the early 1860s wh en many colleagues joined members of the defunct Liberal Party to form a new par ty. Rio Branco was sent to Uruguay in late 1864, tasked with bringing a diplomat ic end to the Uruguayan War. Although successful, he was abruptly dismissed from his post. In 1869, he was recalled and dispatched to Paraguay, this time to neg otiate an end to its war with Brazil. His successful efforts in concluding a pea ce with Paraguay were recognized, and Pedro II ennobled him, making him Viscount of Rio Branco (Portuguese for "White River"). In 1871, Rio Branco became the President of the Council of Ministers (Prime Mini

ster) for the first time. He would become the Council's longest-serving presiden t, and his cabinet the second longest, in Brazilian history. His government was marked by a time of economic prosperity and the enactment of several necessary r eformsthough they proved to be seriously flawed. The most important of these initi atives was the Law of Free Birth, which granted freeborn status to children born to slave women. Having become one of the main leaders of the Conservative Party , the passage of this law increased Rio Branco's popularity. However, his govern ment was plagued by a long crisis with the Catholic Church that had resulted fro m the expulsion of Freemasons from its lay brotherhoods. After more than four ye ars heading the Cabinet, Rio Branco resigned in 1875. Following a long vacation in Europe, his health swiftly declined and he was diagnosed with oral cancer. Ri o Branco died in 1880 and was widely mourned throughout the country. He is regar ded by most historians as one of Brazil's greatest statesmen.