Henrique O'Neill, 1st Viscount of Santa Mónica (

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

, 3 August 1823 – Lisbon, 6 November 1889) was a Portuguese writer,

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...

and politician.

Background

Henrique O'Neill was a son of

José Maria O'Neill José Maria O'Neill (Setúbal, São Sebastião or Santa Maria da Graça, 14 April 1788 - ?), was the titular head of a branch of the Clanaboy O'Neill dynasty, whose family has been in Portugal since the 18th century. Life He was the first-born so ...

, the titular head of the Clanaboy O'Neill dynasty, whose family has been in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

since the 18th century, and wife Ludovina de Jesus Alves Solano. He descended from a most noble Irish family that had fled to France in the 17th century due to religious persecution and which then passed to

Career

A Bachelor in Law from the

University of Coimbra The University of Coimbra (UC; pt, Universidade de Coimbra, ) is a Public university, public research university in Coimbra, Portugal. First established in Lisbon in 1290, it went through a number of relocations until moving permanently to Coi ...

, he left to go to Germany soon after his graduation and there he lectured on

Portuguese language Portuguese ( or, in full, ) is a western Romance language of the Indo-European language family, originating in the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. It is an official language of Portugal, Brazil, Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau and ...

at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

. Invited by the Minister Martins Ferrão, then Minister of Justice, to come and lead one of the branches of his Ministry, he returned to Portugal, where he initiated his career as functionary which rapidly took him to

Director-General A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'' ) or general director is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer, within a government ...

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

Honorary An honorary position is one given as an honor, with no duties attached, and without payment. Other uses include: * Honorary Academy Award, by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, United States * Honorary Aryan, a status in Nazi Germany ...

Affairs,

''Veador'' (

Overseer Overseer may refer to: Professions * Supervisor or superintendent; one who keeps watch over and directs the work of others *Plantation overseer, often in the context of forced labor or slavery *Overseer of the poor, an official who administered re ...

) of the

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

Maria Pia of Savoy Dona Maria Pia (16 October 1847 – 5 July 1911) was by birth an Italian princess of the House of Savoy and was Queen of Portugal as spouse of King Luís I of Portugal. On the day of her baptism, Pope Pius IX, her godfather, gave her a Golde ...

and

Preceptor A preceptor (from Latin, "''praecepto''") is a teacher responsible for upholding a ''precept'', meaning a certain law or tradition. Buddhist monastic orders Senior Buddhist monks can become the preceptors for newly ordained monks. In the Buddhi ...

of then Prince Dom Carlos and his brother the Infante Dom Afonso (''Alvará'' of 23 October 1873, becoming integrated in the list of the residents of the Royal Household), with the title of Officer-Major of the Royal Household. He was also

Prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the Civil law (legal system), civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the ...

-General of the Crown and

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in p ...

and Overseer of Queen Dona Maria Pia.

Other works

He was a very distinguished and literate person, who socialized with Alexandre Herculano,

António Feliciano de Castilho António Feliciano de Castilho, 1st Viscount of Castilho (28 January 180018 June 1875) was a Portuguese writer. Life Castilho was born in Lisbon. He lost his sight at the age of six, but the devotion of his brother Augusto, and aided by a retent ...

and other worthies of the time, reached a position of a certain relief in ''Letters'' since he was a student, when he published poems in the ''Trovador'', to which group he belonged. He translated and adapted the ''Fables'' of

Lessing Lessing is a German surname of Slavic origin, originally ''Lesnik'' meaning "woodman". Lessing may refer to: A German family of writers, artists, musicians and politicians who can be traced back to a Michil Lessigk mentioned in 1518 as being a lin ...

and published ''Fabulário,'' ''In Memoriam,'' ''Feira da Ladra,'' and the ''Turra de Dois Caturras,'' all in out of the market editions.

Title, honours and decorations

He was a member of His Most Faithful Majesty's

Council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

, 309th

Grand Cross Grand Cross is the highest class in many orders, and manifested in its insignia. Exceptionally, the highest class may be referred to as Grand Cordon or equivalent. In other cases, there may exist a rank even higher than Grand Cross, e.g. Grand ...

of the Royal Order of Our Lady of Concepcion of Vila Viçosa, of

, also

of the Imperial Order of the Rose, of Brasil, and of the Royal Order of the Crown, of Italy,

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

, of France, etc., associate of the ''Academia Real das Ciências de Lisboa'' and the ''Instituto de Coimbra''. His title of 1st

Viscount A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial ...

of Santa Monica was conceded to him by

decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state (such as the president of a republic or a monarch), according to certain procedures (usually established in a constitution). It has the force of law. The particular term used for ...

dated 28 December 1876 of King

Luís I of Portugal Dom Luís I (31 October 1838, in Lisbon – 19 October 1889, in Cascais), known as The Popular (Portuguese: O Popular) was a member of the ruling House of Braganza,"While remaining patrilineal dynasts of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha accord ...

. He used the arms of O'Neill plene.

Personal life

He died unmarried and without issue.''Anuário da Nobreza de Portugal'', III, 2006, Tomo III, pg. 1.399 The representation of his title went to his older surviving brother Jorge Torlades O'Neill I.

References

Sources

* ''Nobreza de Portugal e do Brasil'', Volume Terceiro, pg. 299

External links

Henrique O'Neill, 1st Viscount of Santa Mónica's Genealogy in a Portuguese Genealogical site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oneill, Henrique 1823 births 1889 deaths Portuguese jurists Portuguese nobility Portuguese people of Irish descent Portuguese male writers Connachta Viscounts of Santa Mónica O'Neill dynasty Government ministers of Portugal People from Lisbon 19th-century Portuguese writers 19th-century male writers