birth_date: 1843-02-22 00:00:00
avg_rating: 3.28
name: Visconde de Taunay
about: Viscount of Taunay (Alfredo Maria Adriano d'Escragnolle Taunay), military engineer, professor, politician, historian, novelist, playwright, biographer, ethnologist and memoirist, was born in Rio de Janeiro, RJ, on February 22, 1843, and also died in Rio de Janeiro on January 25, 1899.He was the son of Félix Emílio Taunay, Baron de Taunay, and Gabriela de Robert d’Escragnolle. His grandfather, the famous painter Nicolau Antônio Taunay, was one of the heads of the French Artistic Mission of 1818 and his father was one of Pedro II's tutors and for a long time directed the National School of Fine Arts. On his maternal side, he was the grandson of the Count d’Escragnolle, who had emigrated from France due to the contingencies of the Revolution.R Viscount of Taunay (Alfredo Maria Adriano d'Escragnolle Taunay), military engineer, professor, politician, historian, novelist, playwright, biographer, ethnologist and memoirist, was born in Rio de Janeiro, RJ, on February 22, 1843, and also died in Rio de Janeiro on January 25, 1899.He was the son of Félix Emílio Taunay, Baron de Taunay, and Gabriela de Robert d’Escragnolle. His grandfather, the famous painter Nicolau Antônio Taunay, was one of the heads of the French Artistic Mission of 1818 and his father was one of Pedro II's tutors and for a long time directed the National School of Fine Arts. On his maternal side, he was the grandson of the Count d’Escragnolle, who had emigrated from France due to the contingencies of the Revolution.Raised in a cultured environment, steeped in art and literature, he early developed a literary passion and a taste for music and drawing. He studied humanities at Colégio Pedro II, where he graduated in letters in 1858. The following year he enrolled in the Physical and Mathematical Sciences course at the Escola Militar. Ensign-student in 1862, Bachelor of Mathematics in 1863, he was promoted to Second Lieutenant of Artillery in 1864, enrolling in the 2nd. year of Military Engineering, which did not end, as he received a mobilization order, with the other student officers, in 1865, at the beginning of the Paraguayan War. He was incorporated into the Mato Grosso Expedition as an assistant to the Engineers Commission, to bring the imperial government news of the Mato Grosso expeditionary corps, which had long been supposed to be lost and annihilated. He brought deep country experience and inspiration from the campaign to most of his writing, beginning with his first book, Scenes of Travel (1868). In 1869, the Conde d'Eu, commander-in-chief of the Brazilian forces operating in Paraguay, invited the first lieutenant Taunay to be secretary of his General Staff, being in charge of writing the Diário do Exército, whose content was, in 1870, reproduced in the book of the same name. After the war, he was promoted to captain, and finished his engineering course, becoming professor of Geology and Mineralogy at the Escola Militar.In 1871, he published his first novel, Mocidade de Trajano, under the pseudonym Sílvio Dinarte, which he would use in most of his works of fiction, and, in French, A Retirement from the Laguna, about the disastrous and heroic episode in which he participated. . The publication draws the attention of the whole of Brazil to the young writer. On the recommendation of the Visconde do Rio Branco, he ran for deputy general for the State of Goiás, which elected him to the Chamber of Deputies in 1872, a term that was renewed in 1875. From 1876 to 1877 he was president of the province of Santa Catarina.He would never return to active Army service. Promoted to major in 1875, he resigned from the post in 1885, already taken up by activities in politics and letters. In 1878, when the Conservative Party, in whose ranks he was active, fell, he left for Europe on a long study trip.Back in Brazil in 1880, he began a phase of intense activity in favor of measures such as civil marriage, immigration, the gradual liberation of slaves, the automatic naturalization of foreigners. Deputy again from 1881 to 1884, for Santa Catarina. In 1885 he was a candidate for deputy for Rio de Janeiro, but was defeated. He presided over Paraná from 1885 to 1886, putting into practice his immigration policy. In 1886 he was elected general deputy for Santa Catarina and, soon after, senator for the same province, in the vacancy of Barão de Laguna. He was one of the most ardent supporters of Abolition in the Senate. On September 6, 1889, he received the title of Viscount, with greatness. He was at the beginning of a high pre-eminence in public affairs when the proclamation of the Republic cut short his career, given the uncompromising fidelity with which he remained a monarchist until his death. In ...more
death_date: 1899-01-25 00:00:00