Joaquim Rodrigues Torres, the Viscount of Itaboraí (13 December 1802 – 8 January 1872) was a Brazilian politician and

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during the period 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 ...

(1822–1889). He was the country's

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from 1868 to 1870.

Biography

Born in 1802 to Manuel José Rodrigues Torres and Emerenciana Matilde Torres, he received his basic education in Rio de Janeiro and later travelled to Portugal, where he graduated in mathematics at the

University of Coimbra The University of Coimbra (UC; pt, Universidade de Coimbra, ) is a public research university in Coimbra, Portugal. First established in Lisbon in 1290, it went through a number of relocations until moving permanently to Coimbra in 1537. The u ...

in 1825. Upon returning to Brazil the following year, he was hired as a surrogate teacher at the Royal Military Academy. He returned to Europe in 1827, improved his education in Paris until 1829, and then returned to Brazil, where he worked as a teacher until 1833. As a member of the Liberal Party, Torres founded the ''Independente'', a short-lived newspaper. On 16 July 1831, he became a minister of the

Brazilian Navy ) , colors= Blue and white , colors_label= Colors , march= "Cisne Branco" ( en, "White Swan") (same name as training ship ''Cisne Branco'' , mascot= , equipment= 1 multipurpose aircraft carrier7 submarines6 frigates2 corvettes4 amphibious war ...

. Torres was a general deputy at the 3rd legislature for Rio de Janeiro and the first president of the Rio de Janeiro Province, a post under which, among other things, he established the province's capital at Vila Real da Praia Grande (renamed Niterói the following year) and created the Police Guard (present-day Military Police of Rio de Janeiro). In 1837, he shifted to the

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. Throughout his life, he held several other posts, including Minister of Economy, State advisor, senator from 1844 to 1872, and two-time president of the Bank of Brazil. He was appointed a Viscount on 11 December 1854. He opposed the Rio Branco Law before its promulgation. 1802 births 1872 deaths Prime Ministers of Brazil Finance Ministers of Brazil Brazilian monarchists Brazilian nobility {{Brazil-noble-stub