João Pessoa (politician)

For other uses, see João Pessoa (disambiguation).

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Pessoa and the second or paternal family name is Cavalcanti de Albuquerque.

João Pessoa
President of Paraíba
In office 22 October 1928 – 26 July 1930
Vice President	Álvaro Pereira de Carvalho
Preceded by	João Suassuna
Succeeded by	Álvaro Pereira de Carvalho
Justice of the Superior Military Court
In office 10 December 1920 – 26 July 1930 Acting: 18 July 1919 – 10 December 1920
Nominated by	Epitácio Pessoa
Preceded by	Vicente Neiva
Succeeded by	Alfredo Prates de Sá
Personal details
Born	(1878-01-28)28 January 1878 Umbuzeiro, Paraíba, Empire of Brazil
Died	26 July 1930(1930-07-26) (aged 52) Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
Political party	Paraíba Republican Party
Spouse	Maria Luísa de Sousa Leão Gonçalves ​ ​ (m. 1905)​
Relations	Epitácio Pessoa (maternal uncle)
Children	4
Parents	Cândido Clementino Cavalcanti de Albuquerque (father) Maria de Lucena Pessoa (mother)
Alma mater	Faculty of Law of Recife
Profession	Politician

João Pessoa Cavalcanti de Albuquerque (24 January 1878 – 26 July 1930) was a Brazilian politician and lawyer who served as the governor of Paraíba between 1928 and 1930.

Pessoa was a supporter of Getúlio Vargas and ran as his running mate in the 1930 Brazilian presidential election in opposition to the café com leite system. Pessoa was assassinated shortly after the election which became one of the main causes of the Brazilian Revolution of 1930.

João Pessoa, the capital and largest city of Paraíba, was renamed in his honor.

Life and career

Pessoa was born on January 24, 1878, at Umbuzeiro, Paraíba, Brazil. He enrolled at the Military Academy of Praia Vermelha in 1895, but dropped out before completing the course. He joined the Faculdade de Direito do Recife (Faculty of Law of Recife) in 1899, graduating in 1904. From 1909, he worked as a lawyer in Rio de Janeiro, in the Ministry of Finance and the Navy. In 1919, Epitácio Pessoa, João Pessoa's uncle, became President of Brazil, and João was made a minister of the Supremo Tribunal Militar (Supreme Military Court).

In 1928, João Pessoa was elected governor of Paraíba, in which role he attempted to bring about reform of the state's political and administrative structure, and imposed taxes on trade conducted between Paraíba and the port of Recife in the state of Pernambuco. In the 1930 presidential elections, Pessoa refused to support the Republican candidate, Júlio Prestes, and accepted an invitation to become the running mate on the ticket of Getúlio Vargas. Prestes won the election, and one of his supporters, Colonel José Pereira Lima, led a revolt against Pessoa's state government, with the cooperation of the federal government. Pessoa responded by ordering raids on the homes and offices of suspected rebel sympathizers; during one such raid on the house of João Duarte Dantas, an ally of Pereira, police discovered intimate letters from Dantas' mistress, which were subsequently published in the state press.

Death

On July 26, 1930, Pessoa was on an official visit to Recife when he was shot and killed by an infuriated Dantas. The assassination stirred up a wave of bad feeling toward the federal government and the outgoing president Washington Luís, who was accused of bearing the "moral responsibility". Not long after Pessoa's death, Washington Luís was overthrown, and Getúlio Vargas installed as president.

Legacy

Parahyba do Norte, the capital and largest city of Paraíba, was renamed João Pessoa in September 1930, two months after his assassination. Pessoa is also commemorated in the Paraíba state flag, which features the word Nego ("I deny"), a reference to Pessoa's refusal to accept Júlio Prestes as president. The colors of the flag, red and black, symbolize the blood shed during the assassination and the period of mourning which followed.