João Chagas
Prime Minister of Portugal
In office
4 September 1911 – 13 November 1911
PresidentManuel de Arriaga
Preceded byProvisional Government
Succeeded byAugusto de Vasconcelos
Ambassador of Portugal to France
In office
25 April 1911 – 31 December 1923
Nominated byProvisional Government
Preceded byTomás de Sousa Rosa
Succeeded byAntónio Joaquim Ferreira da Fonseca
Minister of the Interior
In office
4 September 1911 – 12 November 1911
Prime MinisterHimself
Preceded byAntónio José de Almeida
Succeeded bySilvestre Falcão
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
4 September 1911 – 12 October 1911
Prime MinisterHimself
Preceded byBernardino Machado
Succeeded byAugusto de Vasconcelos
Personal details
Born(1863-09-01)1 September 1863
Rio de Janeiro, Neutral Municipality, Empire of Brazil
Died28 May 1925(1925-05-28) (aged 61)
Estoril, Portugal
Political partyPortuguese Republican (1890–1911)
Independent (1911–1925)
OccupationDiplomat, editor, journalist, political analist, politician, writer
Signature

João Pinheiro Chagas (1 September 1863 – 28 May 1925; Portuguese pronunciation: [ʒuˈɐ̃w piˈɲɐjɾu ˈʃaɣɐʃ]) was a Portuguese politician, literary critic, propagandist, editor, and journalist.[1][2] He was heavily involved in several rebellions condemning the monarchy and disseminating materials via pamphlets and newspaper in support of the Portuguese Republican Party.[3][4] He was among the leaders of the 5 October 1910 revolution and the Lisbon Regicide, and later served as Ambassador to Paris for 14-years, and twice as interim prime minister of the Portuguese First Republic.[3][5]

Biography

Early years

Chagas was born 4 September 1863 in Rio de Janeiro, Empire of Brazil to João Pinheiro Chagas and Maria Amélia Rosa Pereira.[3][6] His father was a Portuguese emigrant with ancestral ties to Portuguese refugees from Beiras who fled to Brazil during the Liberal Wars.[7] On his paternal side, Manuel Pinheiro Chagas was his cousin and his son Mário was his first cousin once removed.[7] His mother was an Indigenous American.[7] The family relocated to Lisbon when Chagas was a child and he was orphaned at a young age.[7][1]

Writing career

Chagas could not afford to attend university, so he moved to Porto at age 16 and began his writing career.[7][3] At times, he wrote under the pseudonym João Rimanso or Ivan.[8] His first publication was in O Primeiro de Janeiro in Porto; he later moved back to Lisbon to collaborate with Temps, Correio da Manhã, and O Diá.[3][9][7]

At the end of the 19th century, Chagas founded La Marseillaise (1896—1898), O Berro (1896), Branco e Negro (1896—1898), A Paródia (1900—1907), and A República Portuguesa,[7][5] and became director of Brazilian newspaper O Paiz (1898) and the Portuguese publications A Lanterna (1899) and Batalha (1900).[3][7] While incarcerated in Angola, he headed the prison's newspaper (1896—1897).[7] La Marseillaise closed in 1898 due to censorship laws and Chagas' known allegiance to the Republican Party.[7] When he returned from exile, he founded A Portuguesa (1893), which he considered a revival of La Marseillaise.[5]

All of the newspapers he founded, directed, and contributed to were anti-monarchy propaganda tools; his articles were extremely controversial and led to him being arrested several times.[5][4]

Political activism

During his early years in Porto, he met and befriended several members of Life's Vanquished.[5] He became more critical and more deeply involved with the Republican Party as a result.[5] In 1891, he published an article in A República Portuguesa that was controversial enough to get him arrested and jailed for 10 days.[6] Within days, he participated in and helped plan a rebellion, and his sentence was increased to 4 years in prison or 6 years in exile.[5][3][10] Chagas was originally bound for Luanda but was transferred to Moçâmedes after one day.[10] He escaped within a few months and traveled to Paris before returning to Portugal in 1892, where he was arrested again.[10][6] While in prison, he continued petition against governmental oppression of rights and wrote extensively about his experiences, making him the only primary source from a Portuguese prisoner from that period.[10][5]

He was freed from prison in 1893 due to an amnesty resulting from the 1890 British Ultimatum.[9] He lived in Porto, Brazil, and Madrid for varying lengths of time before being arrested again in 1896, and again in 1908 for his involvement in the Lisbon Regicide.[7][5][6] He participated in the 5 October 1910 revolution not long after.[9]

A 1900 postcard featuring Chagas

Political career

The Portuguese First Republic was established in 1910, and Chagas' governmental career began.[5] His first role was an ambassador to Paris; he did, however, resign twice due to political disagreements with his supervisors.[5][9] He served as both prime minister and Interior Minister for 70 days in late 1911 and again in 1915.[3][9][1] While in Paris, he continued to keep a critical eye on Portugal's political decision-making.[1] During the Republic's early days, Chagas met with Sir Lancelot Carnegie of Britain, Portuguese War Minister Freire de Andrade, and French diplomat Émile Daeschner to keep himself informed.[1] He was very critical of Portugal's lack of involvement when World War I broke out and was one of the delegates who led the Republic to join the war in 1916.[5][1]

Final years and death

Following the 1915 May 14 Revolt, Chagas was nominated to succeed Manuel de Arriaga's role as president of Portugal.[5] Senator João José de Freitas disagreed with this decision and attempted to assassinated him.[3] He shot several times at a car Chagas was traveling in with his wife in Entroncamento.[3][9] Chagas' head was shaved and he lost an eye in the attack.[9] He withdrew from politics during his recovery and turned down the presidential nomination, preferring instead to continue working as an ambassador in Paris.[6][5] He kept this role until he retired in 1924, with the exception of 1917—1918 during the period of Sidónism.[9][1][5] Chagas died on 28 May 1925 in Estoril, Cascais, Portugal.[3][5]

He died of aortitis and is buried in the Alto de São João Cemetery.[11]

Honours

Chagas served as part of the Portuguese delegation at the Versailles Peace Conference and the League of Nations.[9][5] He was also a co-founder of the Portuguese Association of Journalists and the Porto Men of Letters, and became a Freemason in 1896.[12][3] In 1919, he was awarded a Gold Cross from the Military Order of Saint James of the Sword.[5]

He is the namesake for a road in Lisbon and a garden in Porto.[13][14]

Bibliography

During his lifetime, Chagas wrote at least 15 books and many more journal articles and pamphlets:[4]

Year Original title Title in English (Approx.)
1894Diario de um condemnado politicoDiary of a Political Convict
1897De Bond. Algunas aspectos da civilisaçaõ brasileiraSome aspects of Brazilian culture
O crime da sociedadeSociety's crime
1898Na Brecha (Pamphletos)The Gap (Pamphlets)
1900Trabalhos forçado Forced labour
1905Bom-HumorGood spirits
Homens e Factos 1902—1904Men and Facts 1902—1904
1906As minhas razõesMy reasons
Posta-restante (Cartas a toda a genta)Remaining notes (Letters to everyone
Vida Litteraria (ideias e sensacoesLiterary life: Ideas and sensations
1907João Franco. 1906—1907
19081908. Subsidios criticos para a historia da dictadura1908. Critical subsidies for the history of the dictatorship
1908—1910Cartas PoliticasPolitical notes
1915A ultima crise. Comentários a situação da Republica PortuguesaThe last crisis: Comementary on the Portuguese Republic
Portugal perante a Guerra. Subsidios para uma pagina da Historia NacionalPortugal before the war. Subsidies for a page in National History

In 1929, four years after his death, Diario de João Chagas was published.[4] He wrote the prefaces for Guedes d'Oliveira's 1890 Gazetilhas; and Luciano Fataça's 1895 A revolução de Cuba.[4] He co-wrote Historia da revolta do Porto de 31 de Janeiro de 1891 (depoimento de dois cúmplices) with Ex-Tenente Coelho.[4] He was also a translator; works included prose from Jacques Offenbach's operetta Os Bandidos and Adolphe d'Ennery's play Martyr.[5][4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Novais, Noêmia (2010). "João Chagas: Itinerários de um intelectual republicano". Intellèctus. 9 (2). Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  2. ↑ "João Pinheiro Chagas (1863-1925)" (in Portuguese). Fundacao Mario Soares Maria Barroso. n.d. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "João Pinheiro Chagas". issuu (in Portuguese). Correiro da Venezuela. 2015. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Romero Magalhães, Joaquim. João Chagas: a escrita como arma.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Brandão, Lucas (24 December 2017). "João Chagas, o jornalista da República" (in Portuguese). Comunidade Cultura e Arte. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "João Chagas (1863-1925)" (in Portuguese). University of Porto. n.d. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "João Chagas, o jornalista panfletário". Público (in Portuguese). 28 August 2010. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  8. ↑ Silva, Joao. Entertaining Lisbon: Music, Theater, and Modern Life in the Late 19th Century.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Carta de João Chagas para Manuel Teixeira Gomes" (in Portuguese). Museu da Presidência da República. 9 August 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Coates, Timothy J. (2018). "The Depósito de Degredados in Luanda, Angola: Binding and Building the Portuguese Empire with Convict Labour, 1880s to 1932". International Review of Social History. 63 (S26): 151–167. doi:10.1017/S0020859018000263. S2CID 149673434.
  11. ↑ "Livro de registo de óbitos da 6.ª Conservatória do Registo Civil de Lisboa (23-01-1925 a 30-06-1925)". Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo. p. 159, assento 397.
  12. ↑ Oliveira Marques, A. H. de (1985). Delta (ed.). Dicionário de Maçonaria Portuguesa. Lisboa. p. 335.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  13. ↑ "Código Postal da Rua João Chagas" (in Portuguese). Codigo Postal. n.d. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  14. ↑ Bessa, Carolina (3 January 2022). "A história do Jardim João Chagas (ou Jardim da Cordoaria, como é conhecido)" (in Portuguese). Porto Secreto. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
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