Afonso Costa

Afonso Costa
Minister for Justice
In office October 5, 1910 – September 3, 1911
Prime Minister	Teófilo Braga (as President of the Provisional Government)
Preceded by	Manuel Joaquim Fratel
Succeeded by	Diogo Tavares
59th Prime Minister of Portugal (5th of the Republic)
In office January 9, 1913 – February 9, 1914
President	Manuel de Arriaga
Preceded by	Duarte Leite
Succeeded by	Bernardino Machado
Minister for Finances
In office January 9, 1913 – February 9, 1914
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	António Vicente Ferreira
Succeeded by	Tomás António da Guarda Cabreira
64th Prime Minister of Portugal (10th of the Republic)
In office November 29, 1915 – March 15, 1916
President	Bernardino Machado
Preceded by	José de Castro
Succeeded by	António José de Almeida
66th Prime Minister of Portugal 1 (12th of the Republic)
In office April 25, 1917 – December 11, 1917
President	Bernardino Machado
Preceded by	António José de Almeida
Succeeded by	Sidónio Pais
Minister for Finances
In office November 29, 1915 – December 11, 1917
Prime Minister	Himself (November 29, 1915–March 15, 1916) António José de Almeida (March 15, 1916–April 25, 1917) Himself (April 25, 1916–December 11, 1917)
Preceded by	Vitorino Guimarães
Succeeded by	António dos Santos Viegas
Minister for War (interim)
In office May 10, 1917 – July 5, 1917
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	José Norton de Matos
Succeeded by	José Norton de Matos
Personal details
Born	March 6, 1871(1871-03-06) Seia, Kingdom of Portugal
Died	May 11, 1937(1937-05-11) (aged 66) Paris, France
Political party	Portuguese Republican Party (later Democratic Party)
Spouse(s)	Alzira Coelho de Campos de Barros Abreu
Occupation	Lawyer, Lecturer and professor of law and diplomat
Religion	Atheist
1 José Norton de Matos served as interim Prime Minister from October 7, 1917–October 25, 1917 and from November 17, 1917–December 8, 1917.

Afonso Augusto da Costa, GCTE, GCL (Portuguese pronunciation: [ɐˈfõsu ˈkɔʃtɐ]; born at Seia, 6 March 1871^[1]; died at Paris, 11 May 1937) was a Portuguese lawyer, professor, and republican politician.

Political career

Costa was the leader of the Portuguese Republican Party, and he was one of the major figures of the Portuguese First Republic. He was a republican deputy in the Chamber of Deputies during the last years of the monarchy. After the proclamation of the republic, he was Justice Minister during Teófilo Braga's short-lived provisional government, which lasted from 5 October 1910 to 3 September 1911.

During this period Costa signed the controversial laws that expelled the Jesuits from Portugal, abolished all the religious orders, and established the separation of church and state. These things made him a symbol of the anticlericalism of the First Republic. Also, he was instrumental in the passage of many other progressive laws, such as those concerning divorce, family relations, civil registry of marriage, leases of property, judicial reorganization, industrial accidents, and censorship of the press.

He served as Prime Minister of Portugal three times. The first time, he was called by President Manuel de Arriaga to form the government, as the leader of the Republican Democratic Party. This term of office (which he combined with the role of Finance Minister) lasted from 9 January 1913 to 9 February 1914.^[2] He returned to power, as Prime Minister and Finance Minister, from 29 November 1915 to 16 March 1916.

Following more political instability Costa was yet again Prime Minister, from 25 April 1917 to 8 December 1917, in a national-unity government nicknamed the Sacred Union, to support Portugal's entrance into World War I. After Sidónio Pais's military coup d'état in December 1917, Costa went into exile in Paris, and though he did sometimes return briefly to Portugal, he never again lived there, even after Pais's assassination in 1918.

On a number of other occasions during the First Republic, Costa received invitations to head the government again, but he always refused. After the 28 May coup d'état, he strongly opposed the military dictatorship; he equally opposed the right-wing civilian Catholic Estado Novo (New State) administration led from 1932 by Dr. Salazar. He died in Paris on 11 May 1937.

Family circumstances

A foundling

Costa was given up at birth as a foundling at the wheel of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia (Holy House of Mercy) of the town of Seia in north-central Portugal^{[citation needed]}. By way of explanation:

"The Santa Casa da Misericórdia was founded [in Lisbon] in 1582, by Jose de Anchieta, a Jesuit. It is opened to the poor of every nation and religion, and affords a refuge to foundlings and orphans. The foundlings are deposited in a revolving wheel, which is placed perpendicularly in the wall. The wheel is divided into four apartments, one of which opens without. The heartless mother who wishes to part with her infant child, has only to deposit it in the box, and a revolution of the wheel passes it within the walls, never more to be reclaimed."^[3]

Together with his older brother and sister, he was registered as a son of unknown parents with the name Afonso Maria de Ligório. Ten years later, his parents, Sebastião Fernandes da Costa and Ana Augusta Pereira, recognized him and his brother and sister. They married and readopted the children. Costa re-assumed his birth name in order to conceal the circumstances of his birth.

Marriage

He was married in Coimbra on 15 September 1892 to Alzira Coelho de Campos de Barros de Abreu (born at Oliveira do Hospital, 20 April 1876; died at Lisbon, 1970), the daughter of Albano Mendes de Abreu, a medical doctor, and his wife, Emília de Barros Coelho de Campos. She was the sister of the writer, José de Barros Mendes de Abreu, who was born at Oleiros, Vilar Barroco, 20 July 1878.

Costa's wife is an ancestor of the modern-day actresses, Sofia Sá da Bandeira and Catarina Wallenstein.

Preceded by Duarte Leite	Prime Minister of Portugal (President of the Ministry) 1913–1914	Succeeded by Bernardino Machado
Preceded by José de Castro	Prime Minister of Portugal (President of the Ministry) 1915–1916	Succeeded by António José de Almeida
Preceded by António José de Almeida	Prime Minister of Portugal (President of the Ministry) 1917	Succeeded by Sidónio Pais

References

1. ^ Baptised at Seia, Santa Marinha, on March 7, 1871.
2. ^ "." The Portuguese Parliamentary Republic, 1910-1926, by Stanley G. Payne, Chapter 23 of A History of Spain and Portugal, Volume 2
3. ^ The National Magazine, by Abel Stevens and James Floy, Carlton & Phillips, 1854, v. 4, p. 292. (Original from Harvard University, digitized March 1, 2007.

• Fotobiografias do Século XX, Photobiography of Afonso Costa, Círculo de Leitores.

See also

• Portuguese First Republic
• History of Portugal
• List of Prime Ministers of Portugal
• Timeline of Portuguese history (Fourth Dynasty)
• Timeline of Portuguese history (First Republic)
• Politics of Portugal

Persondata
Name	Costa, Afonso
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	March 6, 1871
Place of birth	Seia, Kingdom of Portugal
Date of death	May 11, 1937
Place of death	Paris, France