José Paranhos, Baron of Rio Branco

Early life

José Paranhos Júnior was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1845, as son of José Maria da Silva Paranhos Sr, Viscount of Rio Branco, future Prime Minister of Brazil and famous statesman and his wife, Teresa de Figueiredo Faria. He began his work in the letters in 1863, in the pages of the Popular magazine, with a biography on Luís Barroso Pereira, commander of the frigate Imperatriz. Later, in 1866, in the magazine L'Illustration, he drew and wrote about the Paraguayan War, defending the point of view of Brazil. In 1868, he replaced for three months Joaquim Manuel de Macedo as professor in the chair of chorography and history of Brazil, in Colégio Pedro II.

The diplomacy

Decree of President Rodrigues Alves, naming Rio Branco to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in 1902.

He began his political career as a promoter and deputy, still in the Empire. In 1871 he was editor in the newspaper A Nação, having collaborated, from 1891, in Jornal do Brasil.

He became Consul General in Liverpool from 1876, was accredited minister in Germany in 1900, taking over the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 3 December 1902 until his death in 1912. He held the position throughout the term of four presidents of the republic - the governments of Rodrigues Alves, Afonso Pena, Nilo Peçanha and Hermes da Fonseca - forming a national unanimity in their time.

He received the title of Baron of Rio Branco on the eve of the end of the imperial period, but continued to use the title in his signature even after the proclamation of the republic in 1889. This was due to being a convinced monarchist and to honor his late father, the senator and diplomat José Maria da Silva Paranhos, Viscount of Rio Branco.

Nobleman

The Baron of Rio Branco in 1875.

In 1889, Emperor Pedro II of Brazil granted him the Brazilian nobility title Baron of Rio Branco (Barão do Rio Branco), a few days before the Proclamation of the Republic. Rio Branco continued to use the title throughout his life, despite governmental prohibition, because of his monarchist beliefs and in respect for his father. Being a monarchist, however, was no impediment for his success as a diplomat: the Baron of Rio Branco reached the heights of his career during the Republic, when he acted as Minister of Foreign Affairs for 10 years and settled all of Brazil's remaining border disputes by peaceful means.

Last years

Suffering from kidney problems, he resigned his post, which was denied by President Hermes da Fonseca. In his last moments of life, he lamented the bombing of the capital of Bahia, Salvador, motivated by a political crisis and occurred on 10 January 1912.

His death, during the carnival of 1912, altered the calendar of the popular feast that year, given the official mourning and the intense tributes that honored him in the city of Rio de Janeiro. His body was buried in the grave of his father, in the Caju Cemetery in Rio de Janeiro.

Rio Branco is considered the patron of Brazilian diplomacy.

Border question with France

Rio Branco obtained a victory over France on the border of Amapá with French Guiana, cause won by Brazil in 1900 in an arbitration of the Swiss government. The border was defined in the river Oiapoque.

Treaty of Petrópolis with Bolivia

In 1903 Rio Branco signed the Treaty of Petrópolis with Bolivia, putting an end to the dispute involving the present Brazilian state of Acre. The region was settled mostly by native Brazilians, but the Bolivian government had come close to leasing this rubber-rich area to American private entrepreneurs. Today, the state's capital bears the name Rio Branco in his honor.

Tobar-Rio Branco Treaty with Ecuador

The representative of Brazil, Don José Maria da Silva Paranhos, who was Baron of Rio Branco met the representative of Ecuador, Dr. Carlos R. Tobar, in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro, to peacefully discuss a final border between their countries. On May 6, 1904, an agreement was reached and the two representatives signed the Tobar-Rio Branco Treaty, in which Ecuador renounced its claims to the disputed area between the Caquetá River and the Amazon river in favour of Brazil, in return Brazil recognized Ecuador as its neighbour. The border would be a straight imaginary line that starts midpoint between the cities of Tabatinga, Brazil and Leticia, Colombia, on the Amazon River and runs north until it reaches the Caquetá River, also known as the Japurá River.

Other success

Rio Branco has negotiated with Uruguay the condominium on the Rio Jaguarão and Lagoon Mirim, essentially a voluntary concession from Brazil to a neighbor who needed those channels. For this reason, he was honored by the government of Uruguay, and his name was given to the old Pueblo Artigas, now the city of Río Branco, in the department of Cerro Largo, near the Brazilian Jaguarão.

Statue of Rio Branco in Porto Alegre.

The municipality of Paranhos, in Mato Grosso do Sul, located on the border with Paraguay was baptized in his honor. In 1908, then in Rio de Janeiro, he invited the engineer Augusto Ferreira Ramos to design a cable car system that would facilitate access to the summit of Morro da Urca, known worldwide as the Sugar Loaf. In 1909, his name was suggested for the presidential succession of the following year. Rio Branco preferred to decline any candidacy that was not of national unanimity.

He was president of the Brazilian Historic and Geographic Institute (1907-1912) and wrote two books.

His son, Paulo do Rio Branco, was a prominent Brazilian rugby player in France.

Titles and styles

• 30 May 1888 – 10 February 1912: His Excellency The Baron of Rio Branco

Honours

•  Empire of Brazil:
  • Knight of the Order of the Southern Cross
  • Knight of the Order of the Rose
•  Russian Empire: Knight of the Order of Saint Stanislaus