José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva

José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva studied at University of Coimbra. Training under Abraham Gottlob Werner is recorded. The recorded working language is Portuguese. Places of work recorded in the authority are Brasília. Employment is recorded with University of Coimbra. Positions recorded include Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of the Empire of Brazil and minister of Business of the Empire of Brazil. Distinctions recorded are Order of Cultural Merit (Brazil) and Livro dos Heróis e Heroínas da Pátria.

• Office — Secretary of State of Imperial Affairs Kingdom Affairs (Jan–Sep 1822) • Term Start — 30 October 1822 • Term End — 17 July 1823 • Monarch — Pedro I • Predecessor — Baron of Santo Amaro • Successor — José Joaquim Carneiro de Campos • Term Start1 — 16 January 1822 • Term End1 — 28 October 1822 • Monarch1 — João VI Pedro I • Predecessor1 — Marcos de Noronha e Brito • Successor1 — Baron of Santo Amaro • Office2 — Secretary of State of Foreign Affairs • Term Start2 — 16 January 1822 • Term End2 — 16 July 1823 • Monarch2 — João VI Pedro I • Predecessor2 — Office established • Successor2 — José Joaquim Carneiro de Campos • Office3 — Member of the Chamber of Deputies • Term Start3 — 22 June 1831 • Term End3 — 6 October 1833 • Constituency3 — Bahia • Term Start4 — 3 May 1823 • Term End4 — 12 November 1823 • Constituency4 — São Paulo • Born — 13 June 1763 • Birthplace — Santos, Rio de Janeiro, State of Brazil, Portuguese America • Died — 6 April 1838 • Place of death — Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Empire of Brazil • Children — 3 • Father — Bonifácio José Ribeiro de Andrada • Mother — Maria Bárbara da Silva • Education — University of Coimbra

In 1800, Bonifácio was appointed professor of geology at Coimbra, and soon after inspector-general of the Portuguese mines; and in 1812, he was made perpetual secretary of the Lisbon Academy of Sciences. Returning to Brazil in 1819, he urged Prince Regent Pedro to resist the recall of the Lisbon court, and was appointed one of his ministers in 1821. When the independence of Brazil was declared, Bonifácio became minister of the interior and of foreign affairs; and when it was established, he was again elected by the Constituent Assembly. He was also the author of the abolition project in Brazil, presented to the Constituent Assembly in 1823. But his democratic principles resulted in his dismissal from office in July 1823.

José Bonifácio spent part of his life in Europe. In his travels around Europe, he studied chemistry and mineralogy with other scientists. He collected data, carried out scientific experiments and discovered four new minerals and eight previously unknown species. The mineral andradite is named after him. Among his other discoveries was petalite, a lithium-containing material, first discovered by Bonifácio toward the end of the 18th century on a trip to Sweden; it was in this mineral that Swedish chemists first discovered lithium. He was also the first to discover another important lithium-containing mineral, spodumene, from the same source, the island of Utö in the Stockholm Archipelago of Sweden. In 1797, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Bonifácio graduated with degrees in Law and Natural Philosophy from the University of Coimbra. He joined the Lisbon Academy of Sciences. He taught Geognosy at the University of Coimbra in Portugal. Knowing twelve languages, he could speak four.

In the year 1819, he travelled back to Brazil, where he continued to conduct scientific research. A talented man having an unquiet temperament, he was also appointed Minister for Kingdom and Overseas Affairs and became the de facto prime minister. • Illustration — Andrada e Silva (gesturing) talking to Maria Lepoldina, Princess Royal Regent of the Kingdom of Brazil on behalf of her husband Prince Pedro during a meeting with the Council of Ministers, 2 September 1822. His relationship with the prince Dom Pedro I became incompatible, and he decided to join the opposition. In 1823, he was exiled and went to live in Bordeaux where, in 1825, come out his "Poesias Avulsas" (Sundry Poetries). To publish them, he used the pseudonym Américo Elísio. On the dissolution of the Assembly in November (the Night of Agony), he was arrested and banished to France, where he lived in exile near Bordeaux until 1829, when he was permitted to return to Brazil. • Illustration — Portrait by Benedito Calixto In 1831, when Dom Pedro I abdicated from the throne, he was appointed by the former Emperor to be the tutor of the Emperor's son, Dom Pedro II. Since he did not agree with the Regent's government, he tried to reestablish the Empire. After being again arrested in 1833 and tried for intriguing on behalf of Dom Pedro I, he passed the rest of his days in retirement at the city of Niterói. He lost his duties as tutor and was accused of being a traitor, but he was eventually pardoned. In December 1836, he contracted tuberculosis. He died of the disease on 6 April 1838 in Niterói.

José Bonifácio had also been engaged in Literature. His work Poesias Avulsas that came out in Bordeaux was republished in Brazil, in 1861, by the publisher Laemmert. In Brazil, it received the title "Poesias" (Poetries) and the publication had the coordination of Joaquim Norberto de Sousa. In 1942 Afrânio Peixoto prepared another issue through the Brazilian Academy of Letters. This work, prefaced with a text by Sérgio Buarque de Holanda, was also published in a collection, as Volume I, idealised by the "Instituto Nacional do Livro" (The National Book Institute), appearing in 1946 with the title Poesias de Américo Elísio [Américo Elísio's Poetry]. His poetry shows a naturalistic pantheism that expresses his intellectual character and scientific curiosity. His scientific, political and social works are published in Volume III, compiled and reproduced by Edgar Cerqueira Falcão with the title Obras científicas, politicas e sociais de José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva. Its third edition came out in 1963 to celebrate the bicentennial of the Patriarch of the Independence. The mineral andradite was named after José Bonifácio.

• Illustration — Prince Regent Pedro of Braganza (pointing) with Andrada e Silva (in civilian clothes) and others on the deck of the Brazilian frigate União, 8 February 1822 • Illustration — The Founding of the Brazilian Fatherland, an 1899 allegorical painting depicting Andrada e Silva with the imperial flag and three major ethnic groups in Brazil • Illustration — Portrait by Oscar Pereira da Silva • Illustration — With the Viscount of Cairu (left) • Illustration — Drawing by S. A. Sisson, between 1858 and 1861

• Illustration — Statue in Rio de Janeiro • Illustration — Statue at the Monument to the Independence of Brazil in São Paulo • Illustration — Monument to the Andrada brothers in Santos • Illustration — Statue at Bryant Park in Manhattan, New York City • Illustration — Plaque at the University of São Paulo Law School

He also worked under the names Americo Elysio and Américo Elísio. The authorities additionally record the headings José Bonifácio de Andrade e Silva, José Bonifácio de Andrada, José Bonifácio de Andrade, José Bonifácio and Americo Elysio. Other recorded relations include José Bonifácio the Younger.

He was employed by University of Coimbra. Recorded positions include Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of the Empire of Brazil and minister of Business of the Empire of Brazil. He belonged to Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He worked at Brasília.

José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva is recorded as having received Order of Cultural Merit (Brazil) and Livro dos Heróis e Heroínas da Pátria.