Ruy Barbosa

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This article is about the jurist. For the municipality in Bahia, see Ruy Barbosa, Bahia. For the municipality in Rio Grande do Norte, see Ruy Barbosa, Rio Grande do Norte.

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Ruy Barbosa
File:Ruy Barbosa 1907.jpg
Ruy Barbosa in 1907
Vice President of the Federal Senate
In office
25 October 1906 – 25 June 1909
Preceded by Joaquim Murtinho
Succeeded by Quintino Bocaiuva
Senator
In office
15 November 1890 – 1 March 1923
Constituency Bahia
Minister of Finance
In office
15 November 1889 – 21 January 1891
President Deodoro da Fonseca
Preceded by Viscount of Ouro Preto
Succeeded by Tristão de Alencar Araripe
General Deputy
In office
15 December 1878 – 3 September 1884
Constituency Bahia
Personal details
Born (1849-11-05)5 November 1849
Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
Died Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist.
Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Political party Liberal (1871–1889)
Spouse(s) Maria Augusta Viana Bandeira (m. 1876)
Children 5
Alma mater Faculty of Law of Largo de São Francisco

Ruy Barbosa de Oliveira (5 November 1849 – 1 March 1923), also known as Rui Barbosa, was a Brazilian polymath, diplomat, writer, jurist, and politician.[1] Born in Salvador, Bahia, and a distinguished and staunch defender of civil liberties and the abolition of slavery in Brazil, Barbosa would go on to represent Brazil in the second Hague convention, argued for Brazil's participation in World War I on the side of the Allies, and personally ordered the destruction of all government records pertaining to slavery while he was Minister of Finance. He was forced into exile during the presidency of Floriano Peixoto, as his economic policies while he was finance minister paved the way for a disaster in the Brazilian economy. After exile, Barbosa would run an extremely memorable campaign for the presidency, though ultimately failed.

Early life

Rui Barbosa gave his first public speech for the abolition of slavery when he was 19. For the rest of his life he remained an uncompromising defender of civil liberties. Slavery in Brazil was finally abolished by the Lei Áurea ("Golden Law") in 1888. Part of Barbosa's legacy to history is that he authorised, as Minister of Finance on 14 December 1890, the destruction of most government records relating to slavery.[2] The avowed reason for this destruction, which took several years to be enacted and was followed by his successors, was to erase the "stain" of slavery on Brazilian history.[3] However, historians today agree that Barbosa aimed to prevent any possible indemnization of the former slave-owners for this liberation.[3] Indeed, eleven days after the abolition of slavery, a law project was deposed at the Chamber, proposing some indemnization to the slave owners.[3]

Political career

Political stances

File:Brazilian 10 cruzados obverse.jpg
Rui Barbosa on a 1986 10 Brazilian cruzado banknote

Barbosa's liberal ideas were influential in drafting of the first republican constitution. He was a supporter of fiat money, as opposed to a gold standard, in Brazil. During his term as finance secretary, he implemented far-reaching reforms of Brazil's financial regime, instituting a vigorously expansionist monetary policy. The result was chaos and instability: the so-called fiat experiment resulted in the bubble of encilhamento, a dismal politic-economic failure. Due to his controversial role during it, in the following administration of Floriano Peixoto, he was forced into exile until Floriano's term ended. Years later, after his return he was elected as a Senator. He headed the Brazilian delegation to the 2nd Hague Conference and was brilliant in its deliberations. As candidate of the Civilian Party in the presidential election of 1910, Barbosa waged one of the most memorable campaigns in Brazilian politics. He was not successful and lost to Marshal Hermes da Fonseca. He ran again in the elections of 1914 and 1919, both times losing to the government candidate.

During World War I, he played a key role among those who advocated the Allied cause, arguing that Brazil should be more involved in the war. Barbosa died in Petrópolis, near Rio de Janeiro, in 1923.[4]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  4. ↑ Cardim, Carlos Henrique (2007) A raiz das coisas. Rui Barbosa: o Brasil no Mundo (The root of things. Rui Barbosa: Brazil in the World) Script error: No such module "In lang". Civilização Brasileira. ISBN 9788520008355. pp. 15, 19, 22.

Bibliography

  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found., originally by Abingdon-Cokesbury Press.

External links

Academic offices
Patron:
Evaristo da Veiga		 1st Academic of the 10th chair of the
Brazilian Academy of Letters
28 January 1897–1 March 1923		 Succeeded by
Laudelino Freire
Preceded by President of the Brazilian Academy of Letters
3 December 1908–15 May 1919		 Succeeded by
Domício da Gama
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