Attempted assassination of Pedro II of Brazil

Attempted assassination of Pedro II
From the French magazine Le Monde illustré, 21 September 1889
LocationConstituição Square [pt], Rio de Janeiro, Empire of Brazil
Date15 July 1889; 135 years ago (1889-07-15)
TargetPedro II of Brazil, Emperor of Brazil
Attack type
Attempted assassination by gunshot
WeaponsRevolver
DeathsNone
InjuredNone
PerpetratorAdriano Augusto do Valle [pt]

On the night of 15 July 1889, an attempt was made on the life of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil in the Constituição Square [pt] (currently the Tiradentes Square) in Rio de Janeiro. Adriano Augusto do Valle [pt], a Portuguese immigrant, shot at Pedro's carriage while shouting in praise of the republic.[further explanation needed] The shots missed and do Valle escaped, though he was later captured.[1]

The incident is known in Brazil as the July Attack (Portuguese: Atentado de Julho).

Attack

Pedro was returning by carriage to the Imperial Palace after attending a concert by Italian violinist Giulietta Dionesi [pt] at the Teatro Sant'Anna (today the Carlos Gomes Theatre). As the carriage passed the Maison Moderne restaurant in Constituição Square, between the Espírito Santo Street (now Pedro I Street) and Travessa da Barreira (now Silva Jardim Street), it was fired upon by a 20-year-old Portuguese immigrant and unemployed clerk named Adriano Augusto do Valle. The shots missed and the carriage continued along Rua da Carioca to the palace.[2][3]

Do Valle was later arrested in a bar where he had been drunkenly boasting that he had shot at Pedro and would do it again.[1]

During the attack do Valle shouted praise for the republic,[further explanation needed] but he had no connection with the Brazilian republican movement.[4] He died 30 March 1903 of tuberculosis, aged 36, in the municipality of Miracema, northwest of the state of Rio de Janeiro, and was buried in the public cemetery of Miracema.

Reactions

The attack was condemned by the leader of the Republican Party, Quintino Bocaiuva, in the newspaper O Paiz [pt], as well as by other republican press organizations such as Gazeta da Tarde [pt] and República Brazileira. The incident spurred controversy around immigration to Brazil, which grew during the 1880s. Because do Valle was Portuguese, the Portuguese ambassador to Brazil, Nogueira Soares, called a meeting to discuss the attack. Portuguese associations released a note of repudiation of the attack, and the board of the Portuguese Literary Lyceum [pt] announced its total disagreement with the act.[3]

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b Fialho, p. 65.
  2. ^ Vidipó, George. "Um processo criminal nos jornais século XIX: o atentado contra Pedro II" (PDF). História e Parcerias. ISBN 978-85-65957-10-6.
  3. ^ a b "Após encantar-se com Molière e Giulietta Dionesi, o imperador Pedro II sofre um atentado". Brasiliana Fotográfica. 15 July 2020. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  4. ^ Gomes 2013, p. 256.

Bibliography

  • Fialho, Anfriso. História da fundação da República no Brasil (in Portuguese).
  • Gomes, Laurentino (2013). 1889: Como um imperador cansado, um marechal vaidoso e um professor injustiçado contribuíram para o fim da Monarquia e a Proclamação da República no Brasil (in Portuguese). Globo Livros.