Celso Peçanha (August 2, 1916 – July 13, 2016) was a Brazilian politician, lawyer, and journalist. He served as the acting Governor of Rio de Janeiro state from 1961 to 1962, following the death of his predecessor, Governor Roberto Silveira.

Biography

Peçanha, the son of Ruy Peçanha and Maria Crespo Peçanha, was born on August 2, 1916, in

Campos dos Goytacazes Campos dos Goytacazes () is a municipality located in the northern region of Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil, with a population of 471,737 inhabitants. Location Campos dos Goytacazes has an area of 4,032 km2 (1,557 sq mi), which makes it the ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, and raised in the city's Santo Eduardo neighborhood. Peçanha was the nephew of

Nilo Peçanha Nilo Procópio Peçanha (; 2 October 1867 – 31 March 1924) was a Brazilian politician who served as seventh president of Brazil. He was governor of Rio de Janeiro (1903–1906), then elected the fifth vice president of Brazil in 1906. He assu ...

, who served 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 ...

from 1909 to 1910 and Governor of Rio de Janeiro from 1914 to 1917.

Career

In 1938, Peçanha enrolled in law school at the Faculdade de Direito de Niterói and was elected Vice President of the school's chapter of the National Union of Students in 1939. He transitioned to politics shortly after completing law school. Rio de Janeiro Governor

Ernani do Amaral Peixoto ''Ernani'' is an operatic ''dramma lirico'' in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the 1830 play ''Hernani (drama), Hernani'' by Victor Hugo. Verdi was commissioned by the Teatro La Fenice in V ...

appointed Peçanha as mayor of the municipality of Bom Jardim from 1941 to 1943. He also served as the Mayor of Rio Bonito, Rio de Janeiro, on three occasions. In 1950, was elected to the federal

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

from Rio de Janeiro as a member of the Brazilian Labour Party (PTB). He won re-election to the Chamber of Deputies in 1954. Celso Peçanha was elected Vice Governor of Rio de Janeiro in 1958, this time as a candidate for the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

(PSD). (The state Governor and Vice Governor elected separately at the time). He served as Vice Governor until 1961, when Rio de Janeiro Governor Roberto Silveira died unexpectedly in an accident. Peçanha was sworn in as acting Governor, a position he held from 1961 until 1962. He unsuccessfully ran for the

Federal Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. Senate or the Senate may also refer to: * Any one of the national senates in the world, including ** The Brazilian Senate ** The United States Sen ...

in 1962, but lost the election. Peçanha then largely retired from politics throughout the rest of the 1960s and 1970s. Instead, he worked for the state court, the ''Tribunal de Contas do Estado'', as well as a journalist and a professor of administrative law. In 1978, Peçanha returned to politics when he won a seat in the

as a Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB) candidate. The MDB dissolved in 1979. Peçanha joined the Brazilian Labour Party (PTB) in 1982, the same year that he won re-election to the Chamber of Deputies. Three years later, Pecanha became of the co-founders of the now defunct

Liberal Front Party The Democrats ( pt, Democratas, DEM) was a centre-right political party in Brazil that merged with the Social Liberal Party to found the Brazil Union in 2021. It was founded in 1985 under the name of Liberal Front Party (''Partido da Frente Libe ...

(PFL). He ran for a seat in the Brazilian Constituent Assembly, but lost the election. He and his wife, Hilka Peçanha, established several community and philanthropic organizations, including the Associação Filantrópica Educacional Hilka e Celso Peçanha and a neighborhood association in the iSanta Rosa section of

Niterói Niterói (, ) is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality of the state of Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro in the Southeast Region, Brazil, southeast region of Brazil. It lies across Guanabara Bay facing the city of Rio de Janeiro and forms ...

. He also authored ten literary books. Celso Peçanha died in the city of Rio de Janeiro, where he resided, on July 13, 2016, at the age of 99. He was buried in the municipality of

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pecanha, Celso 1916 births 2016 deaths People from Campos dos Goytacazes Brazilian Labour Party (historical) politicians Social Democratic Party (Brazil, 1945–65) politicians Brazilian Democratic Movement politicians Liberal Front Party (Brazil) politicians Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Brazil) from Rio de Janeiro (state) Governors of Rio de Janeiro (state) Vice Governors of Rio de Janeiro (state) Mayors of places in Brazil People from Rio Bonito, Rio de Janeiro