João Maurício Vanderlei or Wanderley, first and only baron of Cotegipe (October 23, 1815 – February 13, 1889), was a Brazilian

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

and politician 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 ...

. Born as the son of João Maurício Vanderlei, a

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

descendant, and Francisca Antónia do Livramento, of

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

ancestry. He graduated from the University of Olinda in 1837 with a bachelor's degree in Law and was Marine Minister, Farm Minister, External Minister and Justice Minister of

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 ...

. He was also

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 in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for e ...

of Brazil from 1881 to 1885, and

President of the Council of Ministers The President of the Council of Ministers (sometimes titled Chairman of the Council of Ministers) is the most senior member of the cabinet in the executive branch of government in some countries. Some Presidents of the Council of Ministers are th ...

from 1885 until 1888 and president of the

Banco do Brasil Banco do Brasil S.A. ( en, Bank of Brazil) is a Brazilian financial services company headquartered in Brasília, Brazil. The oldest bank in Brazil, and among the oldest banks in continuous operation in the world, it was founded by John VI, King ...

. Wanderley was responsible for the approvement of the in 1885, which granted freedom to

slaves Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

who were older than 60 years old. He was dismissed from his post by Princess Isabel during her third regency in 1888. Months later, as a senator, he was the only one to vote against the approval of the

Golden Law Golden means made of, or relating to gold. Golden may also refer to: Places United Kingdom *Golden, in the parish of Probus, Cornwall *Golden Cap, Dorset *Golden Square, Soho, London *Golden Valley, a valley on the River Frome in Gloucestershir ...

, which abolished slavery. He is assigned the dialogue with the Princess where he says: "Your Highness released a race but lost the throne" to which the Princess promptly replied: "A thousand thrones I had, a thousand thrones I would give to liberate the slaves of Brazil"

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Biography

1815 births 1889 deaths Finance Ministers of Brazil Prime Ministers of Brazil Presidents of the Senate of the Empire of Brazil Brazilian people of Dutch descent Conservative Party (Brazil) politicians Brazilian monarchists Brazilian nobility Members of the Senate of the Empire of Brazil Ministers of Justice of Brazil {{Brazil-law-bio-stub