Afonso Celso
Viscount of Ouro Preto
Afonso Celso de Assis Figueiredo, Viscount of Ouro Preto (2 February 1836 – 21 February 1912) was a Brazilian politician, and the last Prime Minister of the Empire of Brazil. Afonso Celso was born in Ouro Preto, then capital of the province of Minas Gerais. He married on 6 January 1859 with Francisca de Paula Martins de Toledo (1839–1916), daughter of the Colonel of the National Guard and counselor Joaquim Floriano de Toledo, and his second wife, Ana Margarida da Graça Martins. From the marriage between the Viscount of Ouro Preto and Francisca de Paula was born the immortal Count Afonso Celso de Assis Figueiredo Júnior, who came to found the Jornal do Brasil (he would not have founded but collaborated for more than 30 years in the newspaper). Francisca de Paula was the sister of Carlota Martins de Toledo, wife of Jorge João Dodsworth, the second Baron of Javari. Dodsworth was the brother-in-law of the baron of Tefe and, therefore, uncle of Nair de Tefé, which was First Lady of Presidente Hermes da Fonseca. His brother, Carlos Afonso de Assis Figueiredo, was Minister of War and president of the province of Rio de Janeiro. The Viscount of Ouro Preto wrote a work of history about the first ten years of the Republic. Member of the Liberal Party, Afonso Celso was elected senator by the province of Minas Gerais and took office on 26 April 1879. He also held the positions of Secretary
of Police, Inspector of the Provincial Treasury and procurator of the Treasury. Having been provincial deputy in two terms and general deputy for Minas Gerais four times. Still in the Empire, the viscount of Ouro Preto, convicted monarchist, embraced the abolitionist cause. As senator, he created a tax of 20 réis on the price of tram tickets, a fact that generated great agitation in Rio de Janeiro, known as the "Revolta do Vintém", in January 1880. He published, among other works, the squadron and the parliamentary opposition and Advent of the military dictatorship. He was awarded the Viscount's nobiliarchic title with greatness on 13 June 1888 by Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil, who was acting as regent. He was Minister of the Navy and of the Treasury and member of the Council of State. It presided over the last Council of Ministers of the Empire. Assis Figueiredo was arrested on 15 November 1889 at Campo de Santana Headquarters, on the day of the proclamation of the republic, with the whole ministry, and then exiled with the Brazilian Imperial Family. He lived in exile until 1892, a year after the Emperor's death, when he was allowed to return and decided not to pursue a career in republican politics. At the beginning of the 20th century, after the proclamation of the republic, he was professor of Civil and Commercial Law at the Free School of Legal and Social Sciences of Rio de Janeiro. He was one of the most important politicians of the Second Reign of the Empire of Brazil and great friend of Emperor Pedro II. He died in Rio de Janeiro in 1912 at 76 years of age. He was buried in the São João Baptista cemetery.
Blandengues de Artigas is the name of a military cavalry unit of Uruguay whose origins date back to the times of the presence of the Crown of Spain in the region. The cuerpos de blandengues were Creole militias from the Río de la Plata, where they constantly confronted the indigenous people of the Pampas and the Chaco, as well as the incursions of the Portuguese in the region of the Banda Oriental (present-day Uruguay and parts of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil). Its name is due to the fact that when they were visited by a governor they brandished the spears with which they were armed as a sign of homage to the authorities. The uniform they used consisted of: short jacket and blue breeches, lapel, lapel, chupa and ingrown collar, with a narrow chevron in this, golden button. In winter they wore poncho. The Viceroy of the Río de la Plata Pedro Melo of Portugal and Villena, after convoking a War Junta, on December 7, 1796 created the Veteran Corps of Softies of the Montevideo Border, assigning it the headquarters of the Dragon Barracks of Maldonado. The corps was formed with the same organization, functions, armament and uniform as its predecessors from Santa Fe and Buenos Aires. On the side of February 7, 1797, the governor of Montevideo Antonio
Olaguer Feliú called for the formation of the unit, pardoning the smugglers, deserters and criminals who roamed the countryside fleeing from justice, with the exception of the murderers. They had to volunteer with at least 6 horses and serve for 8 years. On March 10, José Artigas showed up, starting his military career as a lieutenant, and with total freedom to act as he saw fit in order to reduce the other smugglers. By royal order of May 12, 1797, King Carlos IV approved the creation of the Corps of Softies of the Montevideo Border. On September 23 of that year, the regiment was constituted, and its first commander, Sergeant Major Cayetano Ramírez de Arellano, was appointed on October 6. The unit was constituted with eight companies of one hundred men each, financially supported by the Cabildo of Montevideo, using officers of the veteran corps of Buenos Aires and the militias of the Banda Oriental. During the War of independence the unit was divided between the two sides. When the forces commanded by Carlos de Alvear entered Montevideo on June 23, 1814, the royalist faction of the corps consisted of Commander Ramírez de Arellano, Captains Bartolomé Riesgo, Juan Agustín Pagola and Carlos Maciel and 57 soldiers. The body disappeared completely before Artigas went into exile in Paraguay in 1820.
The Brazilian nobility originated from the Portuguese nobility, during the time of colonial Brazil; the noble titles were a sign of political power among the elite. Some of the nobles were members of Portuguese noble lineages and even of the high nobility, especially the families that arrived during the first centuries of the colonization of Bahia, Sergipe, Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. The elevation of Brazil to the status of Kingdom, under the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves in 1815, led to the creation of the first Brazilian noble titles. With the Independence of Brazil from Portugal in 1822, the Empire of Brazil established its own system of nobility. According to the Brazilian Constitution of 1824, only the Emperor had the right to confer titles and ranks on non-nobles. Unlike the former Portuguese and Luso-Brazilian titles—and most systems of aristocracy—a Brazilian noble title was only for the holder's lifetime and could not be inherited, similar to a British life peer. All
nobles, regardless of title and rank, were entitled to the style of Excellency. During the reign of Dom Pedro II and the advent of the commercialization of coffee, it was the great coffee-growers who began to collect such titles, being acquaintances of the coffee barons. According to Affonso de Taunay, around 300 holders had their income linked to coffee: farmers, bankers and traders. The title of baron thus became a symbol of the legitimization of local power, making those who held it intermediaries between the people and the government. During this period the Brazilian Imperial Family sought to efface republican sentiments with a wide distribution of titles, mainly among important political leaders in the provinces, some aristocrats and also members of provincial oligarchies; 114 were awarded in 1888, and 123 in 1889.
Awards: Sash and star of the Imperial Order of the Cross (Ordem Imperial do Cruzeiro), collar and star of the Imperial Order of the Rose (Imperial Ordem da Rosa), star of the Imperial Order of Dom Pedro I (Ordem de Pedro Primeiro, Fundador do Império do Brasil).
