Pedro de Sousa Holstein, 1st Duke of Palmela
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| Prime Minister of Portugal (President of the Council of Ministers) |
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| Order: | 1st, 14th and 16th |
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| Term of Office | (1st) September 24, 1834 - May 4, 1835 (2nd) February 7, 1842 - February 9, 1842 (3rd) May 20, 1846 - October 6, 1846 (all as Marquess de Palmela) |
| Predecessor: | (1st) None (2nd) Joaquim António de Aguiar (3rd) Count de Tomar |
| Successor: | (1st) Count de Linhares (2nd) Count de Tomar (3rd) Duke de Saldanha |
| Date of Birth | May 8, 1781 |
| Place of Birth: | Turin, Italy |
| Date of Death | October 12, 1850 |
| Place of Death: | Lisbon |
| Wife: | Eugénia Francisca Xavier Teles da Gama |
| Occupation: | Diplomat, military officer |
| Political Party: | Chartist |
Dom Pedro de Sousa Holstein, 1st Count, 1st Marquess and 1st Duke de Palmela (formerly 1st Duke do Faial) (1781-1850) was one of the most important Portuguese diplomats and statesmen in the first half of the 19th century. He also served as the country's Prime Minister.
He was born in Turin. He earned notoriety at an early age by telling Napoleon to his face at the conference in Bayonne in 1808 that the Portuguese would not ‘consent to become Spaniards’ as the French Emperor wanted. He was Portuguese plenipotentiary to the Congress of Vienna in 1814, where he attempted to press Portugal's claims to Olivenza, and to the Congress of Paris in 1815. After this he was briefly ambassador to London, but then was appointed secretary of state for foreign affairs in Brazil. After the Portuguese Revolution of 1820 he was commissioned by the revolutionary junta to inform the king (Dom Joao VI, then living in Brazil) of what had taken place and to request his return to Portugal. In 1823 he was made a Marquis and became foreign minister as well as head of the committee which D. Joao appointed to devise a new constitutional charter. The resulting document, to which the King was unable to agree, was so liberal that it drew down on Palmela the hatred of the reactionary forces in the country, especially the Queen and the Infant Dom Miguel, who in 1824 had him arrested. After he obtained his liberty he was made a minister of state and returned to London as ambassador.
When Dom Miguel seized the throne of Portugal in 1828 Palmela sided with the opposition in Oporto and with them was forced to flee to England. Miguel condemned him to death in absentia and seized his estates, but Dom Pedro, Emperor of Brazil, appointed Palmela guardian to his daughter, the rightful Queen Maria II, and he acted as her ambassador at the British court. In 1830 he set up the young queen’s regency on Terceira in the Azores; it was at this time that he became acquainted with Captain Charles Napier whom he considered the best person to command the Liberals' navy. When Dom Pedro took charge of the regency in person in 1832 he named Palmela as his foreign minister, in which capacity he acted against Miguel from London. In 1833 he sailed with Charles Napier bringing mercenary reinforcements to Oporto, where Pedro was being besieged, and took part in the subsequent expedition to the Algarve of Napier and the Duke of Terceira. After Napier’s naval victory off Cape St Vincent enabled Pedro to occupy Lisbon, Palmella retired from his offices. He served as the first Prime Minister of the newly formed constitutional monarchy in Portugal from September 24, 1834 to May 4, 1835. He was Prime Minister again for two days in February 1842 and from March to October 1846.
He was made Duke of Palmela on October 10, 1850[dubious ].
| Preceded by None |
Prime Minister of Portugal (President of the Council of Ministers) 1834–1835 |
Succeeded by Count of Linhares |
| Preceded by Joaquim António de Aguiar |
Prime Minister of Portugal (President of the Council of Ministers) 1842 |
Succeeded by Count of Tomar |
| Preceded by Count of Tomar |
Prime Minister of Portugal (President of the Council of Ministers) 1846 |
Succeeded by Duke of Saldanha |
