Deodoro da Fonseca

Manuel Deodoro da Fonseca (Portuguese

ɐ ˈɛ
pronunciation: [m nu w deo dˈ ɔɾu da fõˈsekɐ]; 5 August 1827 – 23 His Excellency Marshal

August 1892) was a Brazilian politician and military officer who Deodoro da Fonseca
served as the 1st president of Brazil. He took office after heading
a military coup that deposed Emperor Pedro II and proclaimed
the Republic in 1889, disestablishing the Empire, and stepped
down little more than two years later, in 1891, under great
political pressure. He is therefore the first Brazilian President to
have resigned from office.

Contents
Early life
Political career
Presidency
Death
In popular culture Marshal Fonseca in 1889

See also 1st President of Brazil

In office

External links
15 November 1889 – 23 November
References
1891
Vice President None (1889–1891)

Early life Floriano Peixoto

(1891)

Fonseca was born the third child of a large military family on 5 Preceded by Office established
August 1827 in Vila Madalena, Alagoas, a town that now bears
Succeeded by Floriano Peixoto
his name as Marechal Deodoro, in Northeast Brazil. He was the
son of Manuel Mendes da Fonseca Galvão (1785–1859) and his President of the São Pedro do Rio
Grande do Sul Province
wife, Rosa Maria Paulina de Barros Cavalcanti (1802–1873).
During the Brazilian Empire, his older brother, Severino In office

Martins da Fonseca, was nominated the first Baron of Alagoas. 8 May 1886 – 9 November 1886
Another notable relative was the Portuguese humanist Monarch Pedro II
Francisco de Holanda (d. 1585), his remote uncle. Fonseca
Preceded by Baron of Lucena
pursued a military career that was notable for his suppression of
the Praieira revolt in Pernambuco in 1848, Brazil's response to Succeeded by Marquess of
the European year of failed liberal revolutions.[1] He also saw Abrantes
action during the Paraguayan War (1864–1870), attaining the Personal details
rank of captain. In 1884 he was promoted to the rank of field
marshal, and he later achieved the rank of full marshal. His Born 5 August 1827

personal courage, military competence, and manly personal Vila de Santa Maria
style made him a national figure. Madalena da Lagoa
do Sul

Political career (now Marechal

As Governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Fonseca was courted by Deodoro), Alagoas,
republican intellectuals such as Benjamin Constant and Rui Empire of Brazil
Barbosa in the café society of São Paulo. In 1886, alerted that
Died 23 August 1892
the imperial government was ordering the arrest of prominent
republicans, Fonseca went to Rio de Janeiro and assumed (aged 65)

leadership of the army faction that supported the abolition of Barra Mansa, Rio
slavery in Brazil. de Janeiro, Brazil
Nationality Brazilian
Emperor Pedro II had advocated the abolition of slavery for
decades, freeing his own slaves in 1840, but he believed slavery Political party Independent
should be done away with slowly to avoid damaging the Spouse(s) Mariana da
Brazilian economy. The government, nominally headed by his Fonseca
daughter, Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil, abolished slavery
Awards Order of the
entirely in 1888, during her third regency while her father was
away from the country. Enraged oligarchs played a role in the Southern Cross
subsequent coup d'état. Fonseca's prestige placed him at the Signature
head of the military coup that deposed the emperor on 15
November 1889, and he was briefly the head of the provisional
Military service
government that called a Constituent Congress to draft a new
constitution for a United States of Brazil. Soon, however, he was Allegiance  Empire of Brazil

in conflict with the civilian republican leaders. His election as Brazil

president on 25 February 1891, by a narrow plurality, was
Branch/service  Brazilian Army

backed with military pressure on Congress.

 Brazilian Navy
Years of 1843–1892
Presidency service

The Fonseca administration, divided by political and personal Rank Generalissimo

animosity between Fonseca and Vice President Floriano (Army)

Peixoto, encountered strong opposition within Congress, which Almirantissimo

chose a policy of obstruction. During the first months of his (Navy)
presidency, he permitted his ministers almost unrestricted Battles/wars Paraguayan War
control of their ministries.[2] Arbitrary presidential decrees,
such as the concession of the port of Torres to a private company and Decree 528, which opened the
country to further immigration except by Africans, as well as the disastrous conduct of economic
policy during the bubble of the Encilhamento, strengthened the resistance in Congress, which
coalesced around Peixoto and soured public opinion. That also caused republicans in the South to
withdraw their support from the marshal and provisional government.[3] The situation reached a
crisis stage when Fonseca dissolved the National Congress and declared a "state of emergency" on 3
November 1891. A group of deputies opposed the decision and found support among the high-ranking
officers of the Navy, including Admiral Custódio José de Melo. The marshal found himself on the
brink of a civil war. On 23 November 1891, he signed a resignation to no one in particular and turned
over the presidency to Peixoto.

Death
He died in Rio de Janeiro on 23 August 1892. He was stricken with perilous bouts of dyspnea,
popularly referred to as "shortness of breath," and was buried in a family grave in the Caju Cemetery.
However, in 1937, his remains were unearthed and transferred to a monument in Praça Paris, Rio de
Janeiro.

Deodoro da Fonseca in art



Proclamation of the Marshal Fonseca in Fechamento do

Republic on 15 1889, by Bror Kronstrand Congresso by Angelo
November 1889 Agostini (1892)

Monument where
Deodoro da Fonseca is
buried.

In popular culture
Fonseca has been portrayed twice by Brazilian actor and voice actor Castro Gonzaga in the miniseries
Abolição (1988) and República (1989) respectively.

See also
List of presidents of Brazil

External links
Media related to Deodoro da Fonseca at Wikimedia Commons
 Political offices
President of the

Preceded by
São Pedro do Rio Grande do Sul Succeeded by

Baron of Lucena Province

Marquess of Abrantes
1886
President of Brazil
Succeeded by

New office
1889–1891 Floriano Peixoto

Honorary titles
Honorary President of the Superior
Preceded by
Succeeded by

Military Court

Emperor Pedro II Floriano Peixoto

1889–1891

References
1. "Marshal Deodoro and The Fall of Dom Pedro II". JSTOR 2511467 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/25
11467).
2. "Ruy Barbosa". JSTOR 1006827 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/1006827).
3. Simmons, Charles Willis (1963). "Deodoro da Fonseca, Fate's Dictator". Journal of Inter-American
Studies. 5 (1): 45–52. doi:10.2307/165283 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F165283). JSTOR 165283
(https://www.jstor.org/stable/165283).
Charles Willis Simmons, Marshal Deodoro and the fall of Dom Pedro II, 1966

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