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Gervásio Pires | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Portrait attributed to Porto Alegre, c. 1830 | |
| President of the Provisional Junta of Pernambuco | |
| In office 28 October 1821 – 17 September 1822 | |
| Preceded by | Luís do Rego (as governor) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 26 June 1765 São Frei Pedro Gonçalves, Recife, Brazil |
| Died | 9 March 1836 (aged 70) Recife, Brazil |
| Spouse | D. Genoveva Perpétua de Jesus Caldas |
Gervásio Pires Ferreira (26 June 1765 – 9 March 1836) was a Brazilian merchant and politician. One of the most influential men of the first half of the 19th century in Pernambuco, Gervásio Pires participated in the Pernambuco Revolts of 1817 and 1821, and was the de facto ruler of Pernambuco from 28 October 1821, after the deposition of the former governor, Luís do Rego, to 17 September 1822, when he was also deposed, supposedly for being against the Independence of Brazil.
Early life[edit]
Gervásio Pires was born in the freguesia of São Frei Pedro Gonçalves (commonly called Corpo Santo), Recife, in the early morning of 26 June 1765, being the twelfth child of the rich Portuguese trader Domingos Pires Ferreira and his wife D. Joana Maria de Deus, born in Pernambuco. After finishing primary school here and at the age of 11 to 12 years, his parents made him go to the College of Mafra, in Portugal, where he studied Humanities, moved to Coimbra, enrolling in the Faculty of Mathematics of the University of Coimbra.
He was myopic. At the end of the first year of University he was attacked by a severe ophthalmia, from which he suffered throughout his life, approximately, and it was therefore necessary for him to abstract from forced academic study. Due to a constant tradition in the family, he dedicated himself more freely to studying Law, or as an audit at the University, or with a particular jurisconsult, and he often demonstrated that he had not wasted his time uselessly. He returned to Pernambuco.
His father then indicated the ecclesiastical status to him, but, disgusted by him, he returned to Lisbon, and registered as a trader in that large city and dedicated everything to commerce. He married in the same city on 8 July 1792 with D. Genoveva Perpétua de Jesus Caldas, daughter of the rich businessman José Pereira de Sousa Caldas and his wife D. Teresa Joaquina de Jesus. Intelligent and active, austerely honest, the businessman Gervásio Pires became a great capitalist and not so much because of this quality, as because of his knowledge and commercial acumen, he was generally attended and respected.
Career[edit]
When the Portuguese court transferred to Brazil after the French invasion in 1807, Gervásio Pires left Lisbon on his own ship, the Espada de Ferro, with all his family and wealth, and returned to Pernambuco at the beginning of 1809. Here he continues his life as a businessman, being the first to undertake and carry out navigation and direct trade from Pernambuco to Asia: his ship and then another were the first to sail directly and sometimes they took goods and effects from the port of Pernambuco to Calcutta, and vice versa.
Pernambuco Revolt of 1817[edit]
He was arrested on 25 May