Afonso Celso de Assis Figueiredo Júnior, titled Count of Afonso Celso by the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

, better known as Afonso Celso, (31 March 1860 – 11 July 1938) was a

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

and 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 ...

. He is one of the founders of the

Brazilian Academy of Letters The Academia Brasileira de Letras (ABL; English: ''Brazilian Academy of Letters'') is a Brazilian literary non-profit society established at the end of the 19th century. The first president, Machado de Assis, declared its foundation on Tuesday, ...

, where he occupied the chair number 36.

Biography

He 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 ...

, the son of

Afonso Celso, Viscount of Ouro Preto Afonso Celso de Assis Figueiredo, Viscount of Ouro Preto (2 February 1836 – 21 February 1912) was a Brazilian politician, and the last Prime Minister of the Empire of Brazil. Biography Personal life Afonso Celso was born in Ouro Preto, th ...

, the last

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of the

Brazilian Empire 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 parliamentary constitutional ...

, and of Francisca de Paula Martins de Toledo, the daughter of Counselor Joaquim Floriano de Toledo, colonel of the National Guard, who was president of the province of

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six times. He graduated in law in 1880 from the Faculty of Law of Largo de São Francisco,

University of São Paulo The Universidade de São Paulo (, USP) is a public research university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, and the largest public university in Brazil. The university was founded on 25 January 1934, regrouping already existing schools in ...

, defending the thesis "Law of Revolution."

Politics and magisterium

He was elected for four consecutive terms of general deputy by Minas Gerais. With the proclamation of the republic, in 1889, left the policy to accompany the father in exile, that followed the departure of the

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for Portugal. Away from politics, he devoted himself to journalism and teaching. He divulged for more than 30 years his articles in ''

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 ...

'' and ''Correio da Manhã''. In the magisterium, he held the chair of political economy at the Faculty of Juridical and Social Sciences of Rio de Janeiro. In 1892, he joined the Brazilian Historic and Geographic Institute. After the death of the

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, in 1912, he was elected perpetual president of this institution, a post he held until 1938. He died in Rio de Janeiro.

Works

Of his work the following books deserve to be highlighted: *''Prelúdios - reunindo uma pequena coleção de poesias de conteúdo romântico, publicada quando ele tinha quinze anos de idade'' (1876) *''Devaneios'' (1877) *''Telas sonantes'' (1879) *''Um ponto de interrogação'' (1879) *''Poenatos'' (1880) *''Rimas de outrora'' (1891) *''Vultos e fatos'' (1892) *''O imperador no exílio'' (1893) *''Minha filha'' (1893) *''Lupe'' (1894) *''Giovanina'' (1896) *''Guerrilhas'' (1896) *''Contraditas monárquicas'' (1896) *''Poesias escolhidas'' (1898) *''Oito anos de parlamento'' (1898) *''Trovas de Espanha'' (1899) *''Aventuras de Manuel João'' (1899) *''Por que me ufano de meu país'' (1900) - título que gerou críticas e elogios *''Um invejado'' (1900) *''Da imitação de Cristo'' (1903) *''Biografia do Visconde de Ouro Preto'' (1905) *''Lampejos Sacros'' (1915) *''O assassinato do coronel Gentil de Castro'' (1928) *''Segredo conjugal'' (1932)

Brazilian Academy of Letters

Afonso Celso was one of the thirty men of letters that initially constituted the Brazilian Academy of Letters. Among them were names like

Joaquim Nabuco Joaquim Aurélio Barreto Nabuco de Araújo (August 19, 1849 – January 17, 1910) was a Brazilian writer, statesman, and a leading voice in the abolitionist movement of his country. Early life and education Born in Brazil, Joaquim was the s ...

José do Patrocínio José Carlos do Patrocínio (9 October 1854 – 29 January 1905) was a Brazilian writer, journalist, activist, orator and pharmacist. He was among the most well-known proponents of the abolition of slavery in Brazil, and known as "''Tigre da Abo ...

Machado de Assis Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis (), often known by his surnames as Machado de Assis, ''Machado,'' or ''Bruxo do Cosme Velho''Vainfas, p. 505. (21 June 1839 – 29 September 1908), was a pioneer Brazilian people, Brazilian novelist, poet, playwr ...

Rui Barbosa Ruy Barbosa de Oliveira (5 November 1849 – 1 March 1923), also known as Rui Barbosa, was a Brazilian politician, writer, jurist, and diplomat. He was a prominent defender of civil liberties who called for the abolition of slavery in Brazi ...

and Visconde of Taunay. Ten others were later elected, completing the forty founders of the institute. He was president of the ABL on two occasions: in 1925 and in 1935.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Celso de Assis Figueiredo, Afonso, Junior 1860 births 1938 deaths 19th-century Brazilian poets 19th-century Brazilian historians Members of the Brazilian Academy of Letters Brazilian male poets People from Ouro Preto 19th-century Brazilian male writers 20th-century Brazilian historians