Joaquim Nabuco

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Joaquim Aurélio Barreto Nabuco de Araújo (Recife, August 19, 1849 — Washington, D.C., January 17, 1910) was a Brazilian writer and statesman.

Born in Brazil, Joaquim was the son of a wealthy landowner named Jose Thomas Nabuco (1849-1910), who was a major political figure in the Brazilian Empire, becoming a lifetime senator and counselor of state. Jose established the Liberal Party in 1868 and supported reforms that would lead to the eventual abolition of slavery. (Richard Graham, "Joaquim Nabuco, Conservative Historian" in Luso-Brazilian Review, 1980.)

Like his father, Joaquim vehemently opposed slavery, which he fought by political activity and in his writings. He campaigned against slavery in the Chamber of Deputies from 1878, and he founded the Brazilian Anti-Slavery Society. He was largely responsible for the abolition of slavery in 1888, but his reasons for doing so were less than egalitarian. He opposed slavery, not only because it "Africanized" Brazil, but also because he believed that it slowed Brazil's progress towards civilization and modernity. He is quoted as saying, "Free labor and slave labor cannot coexist, and neither can slavery and immigration". (Citation: Sales Augusto dos Santos, translated by Laurence Hallewell, "Historical Roots of the 'Whitening' of Brazil" in the journal Latin American Perspectives, 2002.) Like many of his elite counterparts, Nabuco believed that slavery would discourage European immigration into Brazil, thus retarding the process of "whitening".

After the overthrow of the Brazilian monarchy he retired from public life for a period of time.

He later became the first ambassador from Brazil to the United States from 1905-1910, which marked a significant shift in his country's role in the world arena. Nabuco realized the importance for Brazil, and other South American nations, to develop a united relationship with the North American stage. In Washington, he worked with Elihu Root who also supported this idea of Pan-Americanism. He spent many years in both England and France, where he was a strong proponent of Pan-Americanism, presiding over the 1906 Pan-Americanism conference. Following Nabuco’s death on January 17, 1910, the Pan-American Building in Washington, D.C. was finally completed. At the dedication ceremony the Secretary of State said the following words about him: “One voice that should have spoken here today is solent, but many of us cannot forget or cease to mourn and to honor our dear and noble friend, Joaquim Nabuco. Ambassador from Brazil, dean of the American diplomatic corps, respected, admired, trusted, loved and followed by all of us, he was a commanding figure in the international movement of which the creation of this building is part…” (Citation: Ronald Hilton and Alexander Wyse, Reviewed Work: '"The Life of Joaquim Nabuco" by Carolina Nabuco' in the journal of The Americas, 1950.)

His best known work is his autobiography Minha formação (My education), published in 1900. It vividly portrays the slaveholding society in 19th century Brazil.