Gastão D'Orléans (1842–1922)

Gastão d'Orléans (Luís Filipe Maria Fernando, Conde d'Eu; b. 28 April 1842; d. 28 August 1922), husband to Isabel, heir to the Brazilian throne. A member of the French royal family, the Conde d'Eu spent his early years in exile, first in England and then in Spain, where he trained as an army officer, fighting in Morocco. Family connections—his uncle married Pedro II's sister—and personal qualities led to his marriage in 1864 to Isabel. Hard working, cultured, and liberal in political outlook, Conde d'Eu at first sought an active role in Brazilian affairs, which Pedro II denied him. In 1869 he was named commander in chief of Brazil's forces in the War of the Triple Alliance, and he secured total victory in 1870. His war experience left him psychologically insecure and subject to recurring depression, and he restricted himself thereafter to family affairs and to chairing a few army commissions. Despite his considerable talents, he did not shine in public life, in part owing to growing deafness. His lack of charisma and his erratic treatment of subordinates meant that he did not command support or sympathy. The Conde d'Eu never ceased to be an outsider in Brazil. After the empire's fall in 1889, he spent his final years in contented privacy in France.

See alsoWar of the Triple Alliance .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Alberto Rangel, Gastão de Orléans (o ultimo conde d'Eu) (São Paulo, 1935).

Alfredo D'escragnarolle Taunay, Visconde De Taunay, Memórias (Rio de Janeiro, 1960), pp. 308-314.

Additional Bibliography

Barman, Roderick J. Citizen Emperor: Pedro II and the Making of Brazil, 1825–91. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1999.

Costa, Revilio. As Colônias italianas Dona Isabel e Conde d'Eu. Porto Alegre: Escola Superior de Teologia, 1992.

Santos, Armando Alexandre dos. "Conselhos do conde d'Eu ao 'príncipe perfeito'." Revista do Instituto Histórico e Geográfico Brasileiro 159 (January-March 1998): 79-84.

                                 Roderick J. Barman