Diogo Antônio Feijó (10 August 1784 – 10 November 1843) was a Brazilian

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' refe ...

. He was the

regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

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 ...

from October 1835 to September 1837. Aside from members of the Imperial family, he was the first to ever hold this position alone; the other was his appointed successor after his resignation, the Marquis of Olinda. Both were regents at the time Emperor Pedro II was still a minor.

Biography

Feijó received his early education in a clerical college of São Paulo. In 1807 he was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

, and soon afterwards began to teach in Santana de Parnaíba. In 1820 the liberal revolution triumphed in Portugal, and Feijó was sent as a representative of the province of São Paulo to the Portuguese assembly () in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

, to which he was admitted on 11 February 1822. On 25 April, he made an eloquent speech in defense of Brazilian rights, which were threatened by the Portuguese majority in the assembly. The Brazilian representatives were unsuccessful in their demands, and Feijó, along with five others, secretly left Lisbon for Falmouth. There, on 22 October 1822, they published the Falmouth Manifesto explaining their conduct. Feijó later returned to Brazil and retired to

Itu The International Telecommunication Union (ITU)In the other common languages of the ITU: * * is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information and communication technologies. It was established ...

. In 1824 Dom Pedro I submitted a proposed constitution to the municipalities of the empire, which was almost unanimously accepted, except at Itu, where Feijó proposed to amend it. The province of São Paulo elected him successively to the legislatures of 1826–29 and 1830–1833. In 1827, Feijó proposed the abolition of clerical celibacy, and in 1828 he submitted a bill for the reform of municipalities. In 1831 Feijó was appointed minister of justice by the regency, and in this position dissolved undisciplined military bodies, checked on 7 October 1831 the revolution in the Ilha das Cobras, organized on 10 October a body of military police, and in 1832 suppressed another revolt. In 1833 he was appointed senator for life and in 1834 the electors of the empire made him regent of Brazil. On the day before his election as regent, he had been appointed bishop of Mariana, but declined the offer for political reasons. He took office as regent on 12 October 1835. As regent, he pushed for liberal and progressive reforms, but his policies were met with such fierce opposition from the conservatives that, on 18 September 1837, he resigned his office, retired to São Paulo and did not appear in the Senate again until 1838. He served as the

President of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the Speaker (politics), speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's Order of succession, succes ...

from 1839 to 1840. In 1842 he edited a political newspaper called ''O Justiceiro''. In the same year the Liberal Revolts broke out near

Campinas Campinas (, ''Plains'' or ''Meadows'') is a Brazilian Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in São Paulo (state), São Paulo State, part of the country's Southeast Region, Brazil, Southeast Region. According to the 2020 estimate, the city's popul ...

, where Feijó was living, and, although enfeebled by his age and sickness, he took upon himself the responsibility of the movement, and, after being defeated, was arrested, taken to Santos, and thence to

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 ...

, to be tried by the Senate. He succeeded in explaining his conduct before that body, and this proved to be the last act of his political life, for he died soon afterwards.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Feijo, Diego 1784 births 1843 deaths People from São Paulo Presidents of the Senate of the Empire of Brazil 19th-century Brazilian Roman Catholic priests Regents of Brazil 19th-century regents