Carlos Coimbra da Luz (; 4 August 1894 – 9 February 1961) was a Brazilian

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

, lawyer, teacher and journalist who served as acting

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 November 8 to November 11, 1955. After the political crisis following the

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 Brazi ...

suicide in 1954, Carlos Luz was the second of three presidents who ruled

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

in a brief period of 16 months. At the time of President Café Filho's alleged illness in 1955 he was the president of the Chamber of Deputies, and so the next in the line of succession to the presidency, since Filho had been the vice president under Vargas. Luz headed the government only three days in November 1955 and was replaced by the vice-president of the Senate

Nereu Ramos Nereu de Oliveira Ramos (; 3 September 1888 – 16 June 1958) was a Brazilian political figure. He briefly served as interim president of Brazil in the aftermath of the political crisis which culminated in the suicide of President Getúlio Var ...

on the orders of the Minister of Defence Henrique Teixeira Lott over his fear that Luz might support a plot to prevent President-elect

Juscelino Kubitschek Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira (; 12 September 1902 – 22 August 1976), also known by his initials JK, was a prominent Brazilian politician who served as the 21st president of Brazil from 1956 to 1961. His term was marked by economic prosp ...

from taking office in January 1956. Luz was removed through impeachment, with the Congress, under pressure by the military, declaring him unable to fulfill his duties. Luz was married to his first wife, Maria José Dantas Luz, from 1920 until her death in 1924. They had two children together. Later, Luz remained married to Graciema da Luz until his death in

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 ...

in February 1961. As of 2022, Luz remains the shortest-serving president of Brazil.

References

1894 births 1961 deaths Presidents of Brazil Presidents of the Chamber of Deputies (Brazil) Social Democratic Party (Brazil, 1945–65) politicians Ministers of Justice of Brazil Leaders ousted by a coup Impeached presidents removed from office Impeached Presidents of Brazil {{Brazil-politician-stub