Manuel do Nascimento Vargas (25 November 1844 – 21 October 1943) was a Brazilian military officer and politician who is best known as the father of president

Getúlio Vargas Getúlio Dornelles Vargas (; ; 19 April 1882 – 24 August 1954) was a Brazilian lawyer and politician who served as the 14th and 17th president of Brazil, from 1930 to 1945 and from 1951 until his suicide in 1954. Due to his long and contr ...

. He served as mayor of São Borja from 1907 to 1911.

Biography

Vargas was born on 25 November 1844 in

Passo Fundo Passo Fundo is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the north of the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. It is named after its river. It's the tenth largest city in the state with an estimated population of 204,722 inhabitants ...

in the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, ; ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative units of Brazil#List, fifth-most populous state and the List of Brazilian s ...

, in 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 ...

. He was one of fourteen children born to Luísa Maria Teresa Vargas, from Rio Pardo, and Evaristo José Vargas, from Encruzilhada. His father fought in the

Ragamuffin War The Ragamuffin War, also known as the Ragamuffin Revolution or Heroic Decade, was a republican uprising that began in southern Brazil, in the province (current state) of Rio Grande do Sul in 1835. The rebels were led by Generals Bento Gonçalv ...

as a volunteer soldier of the

Riograndense Republic The Riograndense Republic, often called the Piratini Republic ( or ), was a ''de facto'' state that seceded from the Empire of Brazil and roughly coincided with the present state of Rio Grande do Sul. It was proclaimed on 11 September 1836 by ...

. He enlisted in the Imperial Army as a

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The rank is usually the lowest ranking non-commissioned officer. In some militaries, the rank of corporal nominally corr ...

during the

Paraguayan War The Paraguayan War (, , ), also known as the War of the Triple Alliance (, , ), was a South American war that lasted from 1864 to 1870. It was fought between Paraguay and the Triple Alliance of Argentina, the Empire of Brazil, and Uruguay. It wa ...

. Having served with distinction, by the end of the conflict Vargas had reached the rank of

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

and gained recognition as a war hero. After the war he left the army and settled as a rancher ('' estancieiro'') in São Borja, in the Argentine border, and in 1872 married Cândida Dornelles, member of a powerful local family. They had five children: Viriato, Protásio, Getúlio, Espártaco and Benjamim. By 1884, Vargas was the leader of the republican political club of São Borja and the city's leading

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

. On the proclamation of the Republic in 1889, Vargas became the head of the Rio-grandense Republican Party (''Partido Republicano Riograndense'') in São Borja. A few years later, in 1893, the

Federalist Revolution The Federalist Revolution (Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Revolução Federalista'') was a civil war that took place in southern Brazil between 1893 and 1895, fought by the federalists, opponents of Rio Grande do Sul state president, Júlio ...

broke out in Rio Grande do Sul, an attempt by federalist rebels (known as "'' maragatos''") to overthrow the state governor,

Júlio de Castilhos Júlio Prates de Castilhos (29 June 1860 – 24 October 1903) was a Brazilian journalist and politician, having been elected ''Patriarch of Rio Grande do Sul''. Politics He was elected twice as the governor of Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande ...

. As a partisan of Castilhos, Vargas rejoined the army in order to take part in the suppression of the revolt. He was wounded in battle in his hometown Passo Fundo in July 1894. During the war he was promoted to colonel by president

Floriano Peixoto Floriano Vieira Peixoto (; 30 April 1839 – 29 June 1895) was a Brazilian military and politician, a veteran of the Paraguayan War and several other conflicts, and the second president of Brazil. Born in (today a district of the city of ...

, and finally to brigade general by Floriano's successor Prudente de Moraes. With the government's victory over the federalists in 1895, Vargas achieved both military and political prominence. In 1907 he was appointed municipal intendant (equivalent to modern

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

) of São Borja by state governor Borges de Medeiros, an office he held until 1911. Vargas died on 21 October 1943 at

Guanabara Palace The Guanabara Palace (, formerly known as ''Paço Isabel'') is located on Pinheiro Machado Street (formerly Guanabara Street), in the Laranjeiras neighborhood (''bairro''), in the South Zone (Rio de Janeiro), south zone of Rio de Janeiro, capital ...

, his son Getúlio's official residence as

president of Brazil The president of Brazil (), officially the president of the Federative Republic of Brazil () or simply the ''President of the Republic'', is the head of state and head of government of Brazil. The president leads the executive branch of the ...

, in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

. His cause of death was attributed to

bronchopneumonia Bronchopneumonia is a subtype of pneumonia. It is the acute inflammation of the Bronchus, bronchi, accompanied by inflamed patches in the nearby lobules of the lungs. citing: Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2014 ...

. At the time of his death, little over a month before turning 99, Vargas suffered from

blindness Visual or vision impairment (VI or VIP) is the partial or total inability of visual perception. In the absence of treatment such as corrective eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment, visual impairment may cause the individual difficul ...

but remained lucid. He was buried next to his wife Cândida in São Borja.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vargas, Manuel do Nascimento 1844 births 1943 deaths Vargas family People from Passo Fundo Republican Party of Rio Grande do Sul politicians Brazilian generals Rio Grande do Sul politicians Brazilian military personnel of the Paraguayan War Brazilian abolitionists