Bocaiúva, Quintino (1836–1912)

Quintino Bocaiúva (b. 4 December 1836; d. 11 July 1912), journalist and a founding father of the Brazilian Republic. Born Quintino Ferreira de Souza, Bocaiúva was the main author of the Republican Manifesto of 1870, in which he defended the idea of a Liberal and federalist republic to be engendered through pacific means, by "evolution" rather than "revolution." He also criticized the isolation of Brazil as a monarchy among the neighboring republics. "We belong to America and want to be Americans" is one of the most quoted phrases of the manifesto. Elected president of the Republican Party in May 1889, Bocaiúva was prominent among those who instigated the military question and, through it, promoted the alliance of the Republicans with the army, the "yellow button" as they termed it. For this reason he was called a militarist and even an opportunist by his fellow Republicans.

When the Republic was proclaimed, on 15 November 1889, Bocaiúva was the only civilian leader to head the military parade alongside Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca and Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Constant Botelho De Magalhães. A prominent figure of the new regime, he was Minister of Foreign Affairs until the collective resignation of the first Republican ministry on 20 January 1891 and senator for Rio de Janeiro, elected in 1890 and reelected several times until his death. From 1901 until 1903, he served as governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro.

See alsoBrazil, Political Parties: Republican Party (PR) .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

George C. A. Boehrer, Da Monarquia à República: História do Partido Republicano no Brasil, 1870–1889, translated by Berenice Xavier (1954), is still the main source for the study of the Republican Party during the monarchy. For the life and political ideas of Bocaiúva, see Eduardo Silva, ed., Idéias políticas de Quintino Bocaiúva, 2 vols. (1986).

                                      Eduardo Silva