José de Melo Gouveia (12 December 181515 December 1893) was a Portuguese statesman and Portugal's Minister of the Navy and Overseas.

Biography

Early life

José Eduardo de Melo Gouveia was born in Santa Justa,

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ), officially the City of Coimbra (), is a city and a concelho, municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2021 census was 140,796, in an area of . The fourth-largest agglomerated urban area in Po ...

, Coimbra District, Kingdom of Portugal on 12 December 1815. His surname, Gouveia, traces back to Portuguese explorer Pedro Álvares de Gouveia Cabral. He began his administrative career in 1845 as Chief Officer of the Civil Government of

and later held roles in

Vila Real Vila Real () is the capital and largest city of the Vila Real District, in the Norte, Portugal, North region, Portugal. It is also the seat of the Douro (intermunicipal community), Douro Intermunicipal communities of Portugal, intermunicipal comm ...

and the National Forests. Appointed Civil Governor of multiple districts, he declined the post in the District of Porto in 1870 to become Minister of the Navy and Overseas.

Political career

Under the reign of

Luís I of Portugal Dom (title), ''Dom'' Luís I (; 31 October 1838 – 19 October 1889), known as "the Popular" (Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''o Popular'') was King of Portugal from 1861 to 1889. Luís was a member of the ruling House of Braganza. The second ...

, José de Melo Gouveia was appointed Minister of the Navy and Overseas from 29 October 1870 to 13 September 1871, during the 33rd

Constitutional government A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

. This title was historically used to refer to the government official responsible for naval affairs and colonial administration during the period of the

Portuguese Empire The Portuguese Empire was a colonial empire that existed between 1415 and 1999. In conjunction with the Spanish Empire, it ushered in the European Age of Discovery. It achieved a global scale, controlling vast portions of the Americas, Africa ...

. He served as Minister and Secretary of state for Ecclesiastical Affairs and

Justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

from 30 January to 1 March 1871. Gouveia assumed the position of minister at the Department of the Navy and Overseas in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

in 1877, succeeding

João de Andrade Corvo João de Andrade Corvo (30 January 182416 February 1890) was a Portuguese statesman, diplomat, writer, and agronomist. Biography Early life and education João de Andrade Corvo was born in Torres Novas, in the Kingdom of Portugal on 30 January ...

.Serpa Pinto, A. A. d. R. d., Elwes, A. (1881). How I Crossed Africa: From the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean, Through Unknown Countries; Discovery of the Great Zambesi Affluents, &c. United Kingdom: Sampson Low, Marsten, Searle, & Rivington.

Death

José de Melo Gouveia died on 15 December 1893 in

, Portugal.

Gallery

José Eduardo de Melo Gouveia (Colecção Família Melo Gouveia).png, José Eduardo de Melo Gouveia (1815–1893)

References