Teófilo Braga
Joaquim Teófilo Fernandes Braga [ ʒuɐˈkĩ tiˈɔfilu fɯɾˈnɐ̃ðɯʃ ˈbɾaɣɐ ] (born February 24, 1843 in Ponta Delgada in the Azores ; † January 28, 1924 in Lisbon ) was a Portuguese writer and statesman. He was the first president of his country after the fall of the monarchy . He was twice (1910-1911 and 1915) President of Portugal .
Life
In his youth, Braga was shaped by the early death of his mother. He studied law at the University of Coimbra , in 1868 Braga completed his law degree, and in 1872 he was appointed professor of literature at the University of Lisbon .
During this time, Braga made a name for itself with a number of publications on the history of Portuguese literature. He also published four volumes of poetry. In his writings he supported the philosopher Auguste Comte and introduced positivism into the philosophical discussion in Portugal.
Braga was a staunch supporter of the republic and stood for a consistently anti-clerical policy. He justifies this in an essay on the church (The Church and Modern Civilization - A Igreja ea Civilização Moderna ). In 1879 he published the article "Positive Solutions of Portuguese Politics" ( Soluções Positivas da Política Portuguesa ) in which he spoke out in favor of the abolition of the monarchy and the republic.
In 1888 Braga was elected to the Cortes , the Portuguese parliament, as the first Republican in the country's history .
In January 1910 he moved up to the top of the Republican leadership and became a member of the Political Directorate of the Portuguese Republican Party ( PRP ), for which he was also elected as a member of parliament in Lisbon in August 1910. After the fall of the monarchy , Braga was finally appointed the first President of the Provisional Government of his country on October 5, 1910.
Portugal did not have a republican constitution at that time, so Braga was only a transitional president. In 1911 a constituent assembly was elected and a new constitution passed. According to this, the president should not be elected directly by the people, but through parliament. The Cortes elected Manuel José de Arriaga as the country's first constitutional president. This ended Braga's first presidency on September 4, 1911.
In 1915, just four years later, the republic had already maneuvered itself into a major crisis. The constitution did not give the president the power to dissolve parliament. The party landscape had split up in the meantime, with a large number of political parties in parliament, so that a government majority was no longer possible. Since he could not dissolve parliament, President de Arriaga was finally forced to appoint a military man, General Joaquim Pimenta de Castro , as head of government. He put on a coup on January 25th, dissolved the parliament, suspended the constitution and ruled dictatorially, the "dictatorship of swords" - ditatura das espadas began. De Arriaga remained president. The dictatorship of de Castro was overthrown on May 14th by an uprising of Democratic-Republican forces. President de Arriaga, who had appointed de Castro as head of government, was also seen as compromised and was forced to resign. Teófilo Braga was reappointed interim president. His second presidency ended on October 5, 1915, when Bernardino Machado was elected new president by parliament.
Braga was married and had two children, one of whom died shortly after birth.
See also
literature
- José B. Carreiro: Vida de Teófilo Braga . Arquipélagos, Coimbra 1955.
- A. do Coelho: Teófilo Braga . Simôes, Lisbon 1921.
- Carlos Consiglieri: Teófilo Braga e os republicanos . Vega, Lisbon 1987.
- Amadeu J. Carvalho Homem: A ideia republicana em Portugal. O contributo de Teófilo Braga . Livraria Minerva, Coimbra 1989, ISBN 972-9316-10-4 .
Web links
- Literature by and about Teófilo Braga in the catalog of the German National Library
- Biography (portuguese)
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| King Emanuel II. Manuel José de Arriaga |
President of Portugal 1910-1911 1915 |
Manuel José de Arriaga Bernardino Machado |
| Antonio Teixeira de Sousa |
Prime Minister of Portugal 1910–1911 |
João Pinheiro Chagas |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Braga, Teófilo |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Braga, Joaquim Teófilo Fernandes |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Portuguese man of letters and statesman |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 24, 1843 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Ponta Delgada |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 28, 1924 |
| Place of death | Lisbon |