D. Luís Pinto de Sousa Coutinho, 1st Viscount of Balsemão (27 November 1735 – 14 April 1804), was a Portuguese nobleman, politician, colonial administrator, and diplomat. The first of many government posts, Sousa Coutinho was chosen to serve as Captain-General of Mato Grosso, in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, from 1769 until he was forced to resign in 1772 due to having contracted a severe

ophthalmia Ophthalmia (; also called ophthalmitis, and archaically obtalmy) is inflammation of the eye. It results in congestion of the eyeball, often eye-watering, redness and swelling, itching and burning, and a general feeling of irritation under the ey ...

. Luís Pinto de Sousa Coutinho was the Portuguese

envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary An envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, usually known as a minister, was a diplomatic head of mission who was ranked below ambassador. A diplomatic mission headed by an envoy was known as a legation rather than an embassy. Under the ...

in Great Britain from 1774 to 1788, from which he accompanied important events such as the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, and negotiated Portugal's entry into the

First League of Armed Neutrality The First League of Armed Neutrality was an alliance of European naval powers between 1780 and 1783 which was intended to protect neutral shipping against the British Royal Navy's wartime policy of unlimited search of neutral shipping for Frenc ...

. He was elected Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1787. Balsemão wrote the 1778 manuscript, ''Extrait des Notes fournies à Mr l’Abbé Raynal'', which describes colonial administration in Brazil and offers a vision of

state building State-building as a specific term in social sciences and humanities, refers to political and historical processes of creation, institutional consolidation, stabilization and sustainable development of states, from the earliest emergence of stateho ...

''.'' In a 1780 version of the manuscript, Balsemão defended what he said was the benign nature of

slavery in Brazil Slavery in Brazil began long before the Colonial Brazil, first Portuguese settlement. Later, colonists were heavily dependent on indigenous labor during the initial phases of settlement to maintain the subsistence economy, and natives were of ...

. He was made Viscount of Balsemão by Prince Regent John by decree of 14 August 1801, after having occupied several government posts.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Balsemão, Luís Pinto de Sousa Coutinho, 1st Viscount of 1735 births 1804 deaths 18th-century Portuguese people Fellows of the Royal Society Portuguese diplomats Portuguese nobility People from Viseu District