- Ruy Barbosa
Infobox Person
name = Ruy Barbosa de Oliveira
caption = Rui Barbosa
birth_date = birth date|1849|11|5|mf=y
birth_place = Salvador,Bahia ,Brazil
death_date = death date and age|1923|3|1|1849|11|5|mf=y
death_place =Petrópolis ,Rio de Janeiro ,Brazil
occupation =Writer ,jurist ,politician ,diplomat
spouse =
parents =
children =Ruy Barbosa de Oliveira, current spelling "Rui", (
November 5 1849 —March 1 1923 ) was an importantBrazil ianwriter ,jurist , andpolitician .Born in Salvador da Bahia, he was a federal representative,
senator , minister of finances and taxation, anddiplomat . For his distinguished participation in theHague Conventions (1899 and 1907) , "peace conference" of theHague (1907), he earned the nickname "Eagle of the Hague". He ran unsuccessfully for the presidency of Brazil in 1910 and again 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 in 1890, the destruction of most government records relating to slavery. [ [http://iussp2005.princeton.edu/download.aspx?submissionId=51868 "Population, Citizenship and Human Rights in Brazil: Elements for a System of Indicators"] , paper at International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP) conference 2005 accessed at March 2007 ] .Barbosa's liberal ideas were influential in drafting the first republican constitution (1891). He was forced into exile in 1893 by President Floriano Peixoto for two years before returning and being elected as a Senator. He headed the Brazilian delegation to the Second Hague Conference and was brilliant in its deliberations. As candidate of the Civilista Party in the presidential elections 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 was a supporter of
fiat money , as opposed to agold standard , in Brazil. During his term as minister of finances, he implemented far-reaching reforms of Brazil's financial regime, instituting a vigorously expansionistmonetary policy . The result was chaos and instability: the so-called fiat experiment was a dismal failure. An orthodox backlash followed under the Murtinho program later in the decade.He received International recognition for his abilities in 1921 as a judge of the World Court at the Hague which he held until his death two years later.
Barbosa died in
Petrópolis , nearRio de Janeiro in 1923.Notes
Further reading
* Turner, C. W. (1945). "Ruy Barbosa: Brazilian crusader for the essential freedoms". New York, Abingdon-Cokesbury Press. - reissue (2005) Kessinger Publishing, ISBN 1419104241
External links
* [http://www2.mre.gov.br/missoes_paz/ing/capitulo5.html "The Hague: Rui Barbosa and the Brazilian Delegation to the Second Peace Conference"] - article by Professor Raul Mendes Silva on a Brazilian government website pt icon
* [http://www.abicasaderuy.frb.br/agenda/midia/ruyvida.htm Ruy Barbosa museum (Casa de Ruy Barbosa)] - pt icon
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