Afonso Celso de Assis Figueiredo, Viscount of Ouro Preto (2 February 1836 – 21 February 1912) was a Brazilian politician, and the last

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

of the

Empire of Brazil The Empire of Brazil was a 19th-century state that broadly comprised the territories which form modern Brazil and Uruguay until the latter achieved independence in 1828. The empire's government was a Representative democracy, representative Par ...

Biography

Personal life

Afonso Celso was born in

Ouro Preto Ouro Preto (, ), formerly Vila Rica (, ), is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The city, a former Brazilian Gold Rush, colonial mining town located in the Serra do Espinhaço mountains, was designated a ...

, then capital of the province of

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

. He married on 6 January 1859 with Francisca de Paula Martins de Toledo (1839–1916), daughter of the Colonel of the National Guard and counselor Joaquim Floriano de Toledo, and his second wife, Ana Margarida da Graça Martins. From the marriage between the Viscount of Ouro Preto and Francisca de Paula was born the ''immortal'' Count Afonso Celso de Assis Figueiredo Júnior, who came to found the ''

Jornal do Brasil ''Jornal do Brasil'', widely known as ''JB'', is a daily newspaper published by Editora JB in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The paper was founded in 1891 and is the third oldest extant Brazilian paper, after the ''Diário de Pernambuco'' and ''O Esta ...

'' (he would not have founded but collaborated for more than 30 years in the newspaper). Francisca de Paula was the sister of Carlota Martins de Toledo, wife of Jorge João Dodsworth, the second Baron of Javary. Dodsworth was the brother-in-law of the Baron of Teffé and, therefore, uncle of Nair de Teffé, who was First Lady of Brazil as the wife of President Hermes da Fonseca. His brother, Carlos Afonso de Assis Figueiredo, was

Minister of War A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

and president of the province of Rio de Janeiro. The Viscount of Ouro Preto wrote a work of history about the first ten years of the Republic.

Career

Member of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

, Afonso Celso was elected senator by the province of Minas Gerais and took office on 26 April 1879. He also held the positions of Secretary of Police, Inspector of the Provincial Treasury and procurator of the Treasury. Having been provincial deputy in two terms and general deputy for Minas Gerais four times. Still in the Empire, the viscount of Ouro Preto, convicted monarchist, embraced the abolitionist cause. As senator, he created a tax of 20 réis on the price of tram tickets, a fact that generated great agitation in Rio de Janeiro, known as the "Revolta do Vintém", in January 1880. He published, among other works, the squadron and the parliamentary opposition and Advent of the military dictatorship. He was awarded the Viscount's nobiliarchic title with greatness on 13 June 1888 by Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil, who was acting as regent. He was Minister of the Navy and of the Treasury and member of the Council of State. It presided over the last Council of Ministers of the Empire. Assis Figueiredo was arrested on 15 November 1889 at Campo de Santana Headquarters, on the day of the proclamation of the republic, with the whole ministry, and then exiled with the Brazilian Imperial Family.

Later life

He lived in exile until 1892, a year after the Emperor's death, when he was allowed to return and decided not to pursue a career in republican politics. At the beginning of the 20th century, after the proclamation of the republic, he was professor of Civil and Commercial Law at the Free School of Legal and Social Sciences of Rio de Janeiro. He was one of the most important politicians of the Second Reign of the

and great friend of Emperor Pedro II. He died in Rio de Janeiro in 1912 at 76 years of age. He was buried in the São João Baptista cemetery. {{DEFAULTSORT:Celso, Afonso 1836 births 1912 deaths Prime ministers of Brazil Ministers of finance of Brazil People from Ouro Preto Brazilian monarchists Brazilian nobility Liberal Party (Brazil) politicians Brazilian people of Portuguese descent