Eusébio de Queirós Coutinho Matoso da Câmara (

Luanda Luanda () is the capital and largest city in Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Angola's administrative centre, its chief seaport ...

, 1812 –

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 ...

, May 7, 1868) was a Brazilian magistrate and politician, Minister of Justice (1848–1852) and author of one of the most important laws of the

Empire of Brazil The Empire of Brazil was a 19th-century state that broadly comprised the territories which form modern Brazil and (until 1828) Uruguay. Its government was a representative parliamentary constitutional monarchy under the rule of Emperors Dom Pe ...

, the

Eusébio de Queirós Law The Eusébio de Queirós Law was a law passed in Brazil on September 4, 1850 to abolish international slave trade in the country. This law was named after Eusébio de Queirós Coutinho Matoso da Câmara, who was the Brazilian Minister of Justice ...

, which suppressed the slave trade and paved the way for its eventual eradication. He was also responsible for the Commercial Code of 1850 that still remains partly in force today.

Early life

He was the son of Eusébio de Queirós Coutinho da Silva and Catarina Matoso de Queirós Câmara. Both his father and grandfather served as superintendent magistrate of

Colonial Angola Portuguese Angola refers to Angola during the historic period when it was a territory under Portuguese rule in southwestern Africa. In the same context, it was known until 1951 as Portuguese West Africa (officially the State of West Africa). I ...

. When he was only three years old, his family moved to

, where the court of the prince regent of Portugal, future king John VI, was located. After exercising several positions as judge, his father was chosen to be a representative of Angola to the

Constituent Cortes of 1820 The Constituent Cortes of 1820, formal title The General and Extraordinary Cortes of the Portuguese Nation, also frequently known as the Sovereign Congress or the Cortes Constituintes Vintistas, was the first modern Portuguese parliament. Created ...

(Constituent Assembly) in 1821, but soon joined the movement for the

Independence of Brazil The Independence of Brazil comprised a series of political and military events that led to the independence of the Kingdom of Brazil from the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves as the Brazilian Empire. Most of the events occurre ...

and was a member of the first Supreme Court of Justice of Brazil.

Political career

Eusébio de Queirós graduated with a bachelor's degree in legal and social sciences from the Faculty of Law in

Olinda Olinda () is a historic city in Pernambuco, Brazil, in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region. It is located on the country's northeastern Atlantic Ocean coast, in the Recife metropolitan area, Metropolitan Region of Recife, the state capi ...

in 1832. He was elected provincial representative as a Conservative for Rio de Janeiro in 1838. In 1842 he was elected to the National Assembly representing Rio de Janeiro, and was re-elected for four more terms. He was Chief of Police in Rio de Janeiro. He also served as Minister of Justice from 1848 to 1852 under the government of Prime Minister

Pedro de Araújo Lima Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for ''Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meaning ...

. The position at that time included the command of the National Guard, the Ecclesiastical Affairs (nomination of bishops, payment of priests and bishops) and the appointment of judges and chiefs of police. He was the author of one of the most important laws of the empire, the

, promulgated on September 4, 1850, which prohibited the slave trade from Africa to Brazil. Although there had been similar laws before, it was under him as Minister of Justice that the Brazilian government for the first time acted effectively against the slave trade to Brazil (previous laws having been passed mainly to placate the British, who were committed to ending the slave trade internationally). Since he had been Chief of Police in Rio de Janeiro, he knew each of the places where smuggled Africans could be hidden. He also had good connections with the Rio businessmen who trafficked slaves from Africa. Using his information and relationships, he acted with severity in repressing the prohibited traffic, ensuring that it ceased abruptly. He steered through the law of June 25, 1850 enacting the first Commercial Code of Brazil. This remained in force until 2002 when the new Brazilian Civil Code incorporated Commercial Law. Until today, however, it remains in effect part of the Maritime Law of the Commercial Code of 1850. He promulgated the Land Law which extinguished traditional land grants and obliged public lands to be acquired by open auction, but also prevented newly arrived immigrants from buying land. He deployed the first law-based penitentiary system in Brazil, dedicating long stretches of his ministerial reports to the subject. He also worked with

Irineu Evangelista de Sousa Irineu is the Portuguese version of the name Irenaeus. This name is borne by: People *Irineu Calixto Couto *Irineu Evangelista de Sousa *Victor Irineu de Souza Victor Irineu de Souza (born 3 April 1989 in Belo Horizonte), or simply Victor, is ...

to install the first

gas lighting Gas lighting is the production of artificial light from combustion of a gaseous fuel, such as hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, coal gas (town gas) or natural gas. The light is produced either directl ...

in Rio de Janeiro. After serving as a minister, he was a was judge, senator (1854) and member of the Council of State (1855). He was appointed Minister of the Supreme Court of Justice by decree of March 1, 1864. As this position was incompatible with that of State Councilor, he then asked for retirement, which was granted by Pedro II in a decree dated March 21, 1864. In the year of his death he resided in Rua Santa Teresa nº 9, in Rio de Janeiro.

Family life

Eusébio de Queirós Matoso Ribeiro married Dona Raquel Francisca Castro Carneiro da Silva in

Quissamã Quissamã () is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of 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 ...

. She was the daughter of his political ally José Carneiro da Silva, the first Baron and first Viscount of Araruama, leader of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

in Rio de Janeiro. His son Manuel de Queirós Matoso Ribeiro also married, in Quissamã, Dona Anna Francisca de Loreto Lima Carneiro da Silva, daughter of Manuel Carneiro da Silva, viscount of Ururaí. His daughter Catarina de Queirós Matoso Ribeiro married, in São Paulo,

Rodrigo Augusto da Silva Rodrigo Augusto da Silva (7 December 1833 — 17 October 1889), nicknamed "the diplomat", was a politician, diplomat, lawyer, monarchist and journalist of the Empire of Brazil. He is best known as the minister that authored and countersigned wit ...

, son of his political ally

José Manuel da Silva, Baron of Tietê José Manuel da Silva, Baron of Tietê () (1793 – 27 March 1877) was a banker and politician from São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of S ...

, leader of the Conservative Party in São Paulo. Eusébio was great-grandfather of Eusébio de Queirós Matoso Barbosa, a major businessman in the capital of São Paulo; great-great-grandfather of the historian Gilberto de Queirós Matoso, as well as of two mayors of Quissamã, Arnaldo de Queirós Matoso and Armando Cunha Carneiro da Silva.

Legacy

The municipality of

Eusébio, Ceará Eusébio is a Brazilian municipality in the state of Ceará, in the Northeast region of the country. Located in the Metropolitan Region of Fortaleza, 24 kilometers from the capital, it has 79 km² of land area and an estimated population of 54,337 ...

is named after him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Queiros, Eusebio de People from Luanda Brazilian abolitionists Brazilian politicians 1812 births 1868 deaths