Manuel de Arriaga

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Manuel de Arriaga : biography

July 8, 1840 – March 5, 1917

Revolt to resignation

Continuing political intrigues inevitably forced the first Republic down the path towards dictatorship. At the onset of the First World War, there was also pressure from the Portuguese colonies in Africa, principally Angola and Mozambique and the National Assembly had decided, while remaining initially neutral in the conflict, to send troops to those colonies which fronted German possessions.

the Miserable Les Miserable Movimento das Espadas Movement of Swords

What had started as an attempt to eliminate an inevitable conflict between the armed forces and the political class, eventually resulted in a bloody conflict. The parliamentarians, meeting secretly on May 4, 1915 in the Palácio da Mitra, declared Arriaga and Pimenta de Castro outside the law, their acts undemocratic and essentially void. Then, on May 14, in a revolt instigated by members of the Democratic Party, elements of civil reactionary groups and supported by elements of the Navy began what was essentially a civil war; there were many deaths and injuries on both sides. The well-intentioned and pacifist Arriaga had only one option; twelve days following the start of the uprising, he resigned from the Presidency. In his resignation letter, he stated that the deaths during the revolt were needless, that Pimenta de Castro’s regime was less a dictatorship then earlier governments and that 1914–15 laws had given future governments unusual war powers.Douglas L. Wheeler, 1978, p.124

He paid heavily for his political naivety; as the author Raul Brandão noted the man, "although profoundly altruistic and magnanimous, good-natured and honorable", had rapidly turned into a political criminal and accused of duplicity with the dictatorial and violent Pimenta de Castro. In his resignation (to his ministers and Party) he defended himself against these unjust accusations and declared his well-intentioned loyalty to the Republican cause, which he had supported throughout his life (but which had abandoned him disillusioned). The parliamentarian, writer and journalist, Augusto de Castro later recounted a conversation with the former President, shortly before his death (in 1917):

"The man, an admirable magistrate, with an aristocratic comportment and a romantic look, who once was one of the most handsome boys of his time, had transformed himself, in half-a-dozen months, into an old, curved and pathetic man…Arriaga recounted to me one of his unique pleasures during his exile…his flowers, garden and poetry…in that afternoon, seated in his garden, seated in the warmth of the sun’s rays, I told the old man my predictions. That politics was not made for idealists nor poets, like him…Arriaga listened silently, forcing a smile respectively. Eventually, tears covered his eyes…And while making small patterns in the carpet with his cane, he told me, with an irony…’I am a political criminal, my friend’…I wanted to comfort him, and remembered his sense of pride in popular sentiment and justice, that yet remained in his soul…the people that you had esteemed, continue to respect and love you. That much is true. There are few in the theater, in public, who caricature you…"João Medina, 1993, p. 257-258

Manuel de Arriaga was replaced as President by Professor Teófilo Braga in 1915, who had led the provisional government following the abdication and exile of King Emanuel II.

Later life

At the age of 30, Arriaga had married Lucrécia Augusta de Brito de Berredo Furtado de Melo (Foz do Douro, Porto, November 13, 1844 – Parede, Oeiras, October 14, 1927), from a family friendly to the Arriagas (from the island of Pico). The ceremony occurred in a chapel near Valença do Minho, where her father was General and Governor. For a few years the couple lived in Coimbra, where Manuel de Arriaga flourished in his law practice. Six children were born, two boys and four girls, and the family regularly spent their holidays in Buarcos.

Published works

Although a distinguished lawyer and orator, most of Arraiga’s works were presented to the public, but also included published:

  • O Partido Republicano e o Congresso (The Republican Party and the Congress), presented at the Clube Henriques Nogueira (December 11, 1887);
  • A Questão da Lunda (A Question of Lunda), represented in the Chamber of Deputies (1891);
  • Descaracterização da Nacionalidade Portuguesa no regime monárquico (The De-characterization of Portuguese Nationality in the Monarchical Regime) presented in the Chamber of Deputies (1897);
  • Começo de liquidação final (Beginning the Final Liquidation)
  • Sobre a Unidade da Família Humana debaixo do Ponto de Vista Económico (About the Unity of the Human Family under the Economic View)
  • A irresponsabilidade do poder executivo no regime monárquico liberal (The Irresponsibility of Executive Power in the Liberal Monarchical Regime)
  • Contos Sagrados (Sacred Stories)
  • Irradiações (Diffusion)
  • Harmonia Social (Social Harmony)