Braz Florentino Henriques de Souza

Braz Florentino Henriques de Souza (12 November 1825 – 29 March 1870) was a Brazilian politician, jurist and academic.

Biography

Braz Florentino Henriques was born in Paraíba, the son of Lieutenant Francisco José de Sousa and Anna de Mello Muniz. He was the elder brother of the jurists Tarquínio Bráulio de Souza and José Soriano de Souza. All three Souza brothers were law professors at the Recife Law School and conservative Catholic leaders.

From a Catholic family, Braz Florentino initially followed an ecclesiastical career, having studied theology and morals at the Olinda Seminary. Many of his family members also held ecclesiastical positions in the Catholic Church. However, due to a crush on a young woman from Pernambuco, whom he later married, he abandoned his cassock and enrolled at the Faculty of Law in Recife in 1846 at the age of 21. He graduated in October 1850. The following year, he defended his doctoral thesis at the same Faculty and was awarded the title of Doctor. His Catholic background accompanied him throughout his academic development, and he was one of the translators of the works of St Thomas Aquinas in Brazil.

In 1855, with the support of Nabuco de Araújo, he was appointed Professor (Substitute Professor) of Criminal Law at the same faculty. Shortly afterwards, in 1858, he was appointed "Lente Proprietário" at the same faculty, working in Private Law.

In 1855, shortly before being appointed Professor of Law, Braz Florentino joined the editorial staff of the Diário de Pernambuco. As well as publishing constantly in this newspaper, he also worked with his brothers on the conservative Catholic newspapers A Esperança (1865–1867) and A União (1872–1873). In 1859 and also in the 1860s, he was a member of the Board of Directors of Public Instruction in Pernambuco, and also served as its Director.

He moved to the Imperial Court in 1865 to take part in the commission to revise the Civil Code.

He was President of the Province of Maranhão from 16 June 1869 to 29 March 1870, a position in which he died suddenly before his 45th birthday.

He was a knight of the Imperial Order of Christ, just like his brothers.

Works

• Código criminal do Imperio do Brasil (1858)
• Da reincidência: lição de direito criminal (1858)
• Codigo do processo criminal de primeira instancia do Imperio do Brasil (1859)
• O casamento civil e o casamento religioso: Exame da proposta do governo, apresentada a câmara dos deputados na sessão de 19 de julho do ano próximo passado (1859)
• Lições de direito criminal (1860; 1866)
• Do delito e do delinquente: lições de direito criminal (1862)
• Do Poder Moderador: ensaio de direito constitucional contendo a análise do título 5°, capítulo 1° da constituição politica do Brasil (1864)

Translations

• Gustave de Molinari, Da abolição da escravidão (1854)
• Aquinas, Tratado dos dous preceitos da caridade e dos dez mandamentos da lei de Deus (1858)

External links

• Works by Braz Florentino Henriques de Souza at Federal Senate

Political offices
Preceded by José da Silva Maia	President of Maranhão 1869–1870	Succeeded by José da Silva Maia