Francisco José Fernandes Costa

Francisco José Fernandes Costa (1908)

Francisco José de Meneses Fernandes Costa (born April 19, 1867 in Foz de Arouce , Lousã , † July 19, 1925 in Figueira da Foz ) was a Portuguese politician and Prime Minister (Presidente do Conselho de Ministros) during the First Republic .

Career

Early years

Costa was the son of Francisco José Fernandes and Leopoldina da Conceição. After completing school, he studied law at the Law Faculty of Coimbra University from 1890 and then worked as a lawyer and professor at the Central High School ( Liceu Central ) in Coimbra. From 1910 to 1911 he was then legal advisor to the State Railway Administration (Caminhos de Ferro do Estado) . Later he took over the office of the board member of the state railways (1910),

Political career

Already in the monarchy, Costa was a republican, a freemason (under the name Gomes Freire from 1901) and a carbonário. Costa began his political career as a member of the Republican Party ( Partido Republicano Português ) . From 1899 to 1902 he was in the advisory commission and from 1909 to 1911 of the advisory board (Junta consultiva) of the party. After the split in the Republican Party, Costa became a member of the Evolutionist Republican Party ( Partido Republicano Evolucionista ) founded by António José de Almeida on February 24, 1912 . Here he worked in 1912 in the steering committee and in 1913 in the central committee. Over the years membership in the liberal and nationalist parties followed .

When the republic was proclaimed on October 5, 1910, Costa took over the office of civil governor of Coimbra until October 31, and until 1911 of the adjutant of the Prosecutor General of the Republic (Procurador-geral do República) . After a brief activity as Consul General in Rio de Janeiro , he was President of the Public Credit Administration ( Junta do Crédito Público ) from 1911 until his death . In 1911 he was first elected member of parliament ( Assembleia da República ) for the constituency of Arganil .

Costa as a political shooting star on a caricature (1920)

From June 16, 1912 to January 9, 1913, Costa was Minister of the Navy and briefly in charge of finance and construction in the cabinet of Duarte Leite Pereira da Silva , then returned to parliament for the constituency of Coimbra and, after the uprising of May 14, 1915 against the dictatorship of Pimenta de Castro , again from May 15 to June 18, 1915 to the post of Minister of the Navy in the government of the so-called Constitutional Junta (Junta Constitucional) . From March 17, 1916 to April 25, 1917 he was a member of Prime Minister António José de Almeida's cabinet as Minister of Construction. From 1919 Costa again served as a member of parliament for Arganil.

On January 15, 1920 he was appointed Prime Minister (Presidente do Conselho de Ministros) by President de Almeida himself . However, his cabinet resigned on the same day and went down in Portuguese government history as the “Cabinet of Five Minutes” (Governo dos Cinco Minutos) as a bizarre episode of the instability of the government formations of the time . In his own cabinet he also intended to take over the offices of finance and foreign ministers .

Costa was again a member of parliament (this time for Santarém , while his son of the same name was a member of parliament for Arganil) until he came back to government in 1921. Under Prime Minister Tomé José de Barros Queirós as Minister of Commerce from August 10 to August 30 , under António Joaquim Granjo as Minister of Trade and Telecommunications from August 30 to October 12 and as Minister of Agriculture from August 30 to September 3. He is also said to have been civil governor of Funchal from September 20 to October 25 . The Lisbon Blood Night (a noite sangrenta) on October 19, 1921 ended Costa’s political activities.

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c Fernando de Sousa: OS GOVERNOS CIVIS DE PORTUGAL HISTÓRIA E MEMÓRIA (1835-2011) , 2014 , accessed on May 11, 2020.
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k Ministry of Finance of Portugal: Francisco José de Meneses Fernandes Costa (on Arquivo.pt).
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m Dicionário de História da I República e do Republicanismo (Vol. I, pp.939-940). Lisboa: Assembleia da República , accessed on May 10, 2020.
↑ List of Ministers for Public Works, Transport and Communication ( Memento of August 12, 2006 in the Internet Archive )

predecessor	Office	successor
Alfredo de Sá Cardoso	Prime Minister of Portugal January 15, 1920	Alfredo de Sá Cardoso

personal data
SURNAME	Costa, Francisco José Fernandes
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Costa, Francisco José de Meneses Fernandes (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Prime Minister of Portugal
DATE OF BIRTH	April 19, 1867
PLACE OF BIRTH	Foz de Arouce , Lousã
DATE OF DEATH	July 19, 1925
Place of death	Figueira da Foz

[civ-1] Fernando de Sousa: OS GOVERNOS CIVIS DE PORTUGAL HISTÓRIA E MEMÓRIA (1835-2011) , 2014 , accessed on May 11, 2020.

[Finanz-2] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k Ministry of Finance of Portugal: Francisco José de Meneses Fernandes Costa (on Arquivo.pt).

[Aca-3] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m Dicionário de História da I República e do Republicanismo (Vol. I, pp.939-940). Lisboa: Assembleia da República , accessed on May 10, 2020.

[4] List of Ministers for Public Works, Transport and Communication ( Memento of August 12, 2006 in the Internet Archive )