José Manuel Fontanillas Fragelli (31 December 1915 – 30 April 2010) 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 ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

and

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

. Fragelli served as the governor of

Mato Grosso Mato Grosso ( – ) is one of the states of Brazil, the List of Brazilian states by area, third largest by area, located in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region. The state has 1.66% of the Brazilian population and is responsible ...

from 1970 until 1974 and the President of the Senate of Brazil from 1985 through 1987. Fragelli was born in the city of

Corumbá Corumbá () is a municipality in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul, 425 km northwest of Campo Grande, the state's capital. It has a population of approximately 112,000 inhabitants, and its economy is based mainly on agriculture, ani ...

, Brazil. (Corumbá was located in the state of

at the time. In 1977, the new state of

Mato Grosso do Sul Mato Grosso do Sul ( ) is one of Federative units of Brazil, Brazil's 27 federal units, located in the southern part of the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West Region, bordering five Brazilian states: Mato Grosso (to the north), Goiás and ...

, which includes Corumbá, was carved from Mato Grosso). He earned his law degree from the Faculty of Law at Largo São Francisco ( Faculdade de Direito da Universidade de São Paulo). Fragelli began his career as a

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

and

law professor A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a legal practition ...

. He served as a Mato Grosso state legislator from 1947 until 1959 before being elected as a deputy to the

Chamber of Deputies of Brazil The Chamber of Deputies () is a federal legislative body and the lower house of the National Congress of Brazil. The chamber comprises 513 deputies, who are elected by proportional representation to serve four-year terms. The current presiden ...

, the lower house of the National Congress, where he served from 1950 until 1959. He was a leader of the now defunct National Democratic Union. He served as the governor of

from 1970 until 1974. Returning to Congress, this time as a Senator, Fragelli was elected President of the Senate of Brazil from 1985 until 1987. he briefly served as the acting

President of Brazil The president of Brazil (), officially the president of the Federative Republic of Brazil () or simply the ''President of the Republic'', is the head of state and head of government of Brazil. The president leads the executive branch of the ...

for nine days during the administration of President

José Sarney José Sarney de Araújo Costa (; born José Ribamar Ferreira de Araújo Costa; 24 April 1930) is a Brazilian politician, lawyer, and writer who served as the 31st president of Brazil from 1985 to 1990. He briefly served as the 20th vice presiden ...

. José Fragelli died on 30 April 2010, at the age of 95. He was buried in the municipal cemetery in the city of

Aquidauana Aquidauana is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul. It takes its name from the river with which the name is shared. The first European settlers were imperial soldiers who arrived during the Paraguayan War and were t ...

. The Estádio Governador José Fragelli, located in

Cuiabá Cuiabá () is the capital city and the largest city of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. It is located near the geographical centre of South America and also forms the metropolitan area of Mato Grosso, along with the neighbouring town of Várz ...

, is named for Fragelli.

References

1915 births 2010 deaths People from Corumbá Governors of Mato Grosso Presidents of the Federal Senate (Brazil) Members of the Federal Senate (Brazil) Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Brazil) from Mato Grosso Brazilian academics 20th-century Brazilian lawyers National Democratic Union (Brazil) politicians People from Aquidauana {{Brazil-Deputy-stub