Ruy Barbosa
| Ruy Barbosa | |
|---|---|
Ruy Barbosa in 1907
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| Minister of Finance | |
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In office 15 November 1889 – 21 January 1891 |
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| President | Deodoro da Fonseca |
| Preceded by | Viscount of Ouro Preto |
| Succeeded by | Tristão de Alencar Araripe |
| Minister of Justice | |
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In office 15 November 1889 – 18 November 1889 |
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| President | Deodoro da Fonseca |
| Preceded by | Cândido de Oliveira |
| Succeeded by | Campos Sales |
| Member of the Federal Senate | |
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In office 15 November 1890 – 1 March 1923 |
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| Constituency | Bahia |
| 1st Academic of the 10th chair of the Brazilian Academy of Letters | |
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In office 28 January 1897 – 1 March 1923 |
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| Preceded by | Position created Evaristo da Veiga (patron) |
| Succeeded by | Laudelino Freire |
| President of the Brazilian Academy of Letters | |
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In office 3 December 1908 – 15 May 1919 |
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| Preceded by | Machado de Assis |
| Succeeded by | Domício da Gama |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
5 November 1849 Salvador, Bahia, Empire of Brazil |
| Died | 1 March 1923 (aged 73) Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Occupation | Writer, jurist, politician, diplomat |
Ruy Barbosa de Oliveira (5 November 1849 – 1 March 1923) was a Brazilian polymath, diplomat, writer, jurist, and politician.
Born in Salvador, Bahia, he was a federal representative, senator, Minister of Finance and diplomat. For his distinguished participation in the 2nd Hague Conference, defending the principle of equality among nations, he earned the nickname "Eagle of the Hague". He ran unsuccessfully for the Presidency of Brazil in 1910, 1914 and in 1919.
Ruy Barbosa gave his first public speech for the abolition of slavery when he was 19. For the rest of his life he remained an uncompromising defender of civil liberties. Slavery in Brazil was finally abolished by the Lei Áurea ("Golden Law") in 1888. Part of Barbosa's legacy to history is that he authorised, as minister of finance on 14 December 1890, the destruction of most government records relating to slavery. The avowed reason for this destruction, which took several years to be enacted and was followed by his successors, was to erase the "stain" of slavery on Brazilian history. However, historians today agree that Barbosa aimed to prevent any possible indemnization of the former slave-owners for this liberation. Indeed, eleven days after the abolition of slavery, a law project was deposed at the Chamber, proposing some indemnization to the slave owners.
Barbosa's liberal ideas were influential in drafting of the first republican constitution. He was a supporter of fiat money, as opposed to a gold standard, in Brazil. During his term as finance secretary, he implemented far-reaching reforms of Brazil's financial regime, instituting a vigorously expansionist monetary policy. The result was chaos and instability: the so-called fiat experiment resulted in the bubble of encilhamento, a dismal politic-economic failure. Due to his controversial role during it, in the following administration of Floriano Peixoto, he was forced into exile until Floriano's term ended. Years later, after his return he was elected as a Senator. He headed the Brazilian delegation to the 2nd Hague Conference and was brilliant in its deliberations. As candidate of the Civilian Party in the presidential election of 1910, Barbosa waged one of the most memorable campaigns in Brazilian politics. He was not successful and lost to Marshal Hermes da Fonseca. He ran again in the elections of 1914 and 1919, both times losing to the government candidate.
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