Alexandre de Gusmão (Santos, 1695 - Lisbon, 1753) is regarded as one of the pioneers of Brazilian Diplomacy, chiefly for his role in negotiating the Treaty of Madrid in 1750 (revoked in 1761), when Portugal and Spain were attempting to delimit their territorial possessions in South America and Asia. Born in the city of Santos (which is now in Brazil but was then still a colony of Portugal), he may be considered one of the precursors of the application of the principles of Illuminism to international relations, adopting the principle of uti possidetis, according to which each state has the right to the land that it actually occupies, as well as the idea of "natural boundaries", which suggests the use of prominent geographical accidents – such as rivers and mountain ranges – to set the limits between states. He graduated in Law and was the representative of Portugal to various states, among which Rome, where he came to be invited to join Pope Innocent XIII's court. He was also a brother of Bartolomeu de Gusmão, a priest and naturalist recalled for his early work on lighter-than-air airship design (balloons).
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During the period of the Iberian Union (1580–1640), due to the Portuguese dynastic succession crisis, Lisbon and all its territorial possessions in Europe, Asia and the Americas came under the control of the Spanish Crown. The boundaries between both states, set by the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) in America and Asia, thus ceased to exist, and as a consequence Brazilian explorers (bandeirantes) began to expand their presence westwards into the centre of the continent; and into Amerindian territory that previously had been barred to them as Portugal had recognised it as Spanish territory (even though the Spanish had not yet conquered it).
When the union of the two crowns ended, in 1640, there was the need to renegotiate the boundaries of both states, and Portugal's interest was to preserve its new possessions, while Spain wished to return to the limits defined by the Treaty of Tordesillas and the Treaty of Saragossa, which had never been officially revoked.
By means of studies submitted to the Spanish Court, de Gusmão proved that while Portugal had breached the Tordesillas Line, with the Portuguese occupying part of Amazonia and the Center-West of South America, Spain had breached the Saragossa Line by expanding its possessions in Asia, taking the Philippines, the Marianas and the Moluccas, which were once Portuguese. Alexandre de Gusmão successfully argued that the losses of one kingdom in one region had been compensated by its gains in another, and that the principle for territorial division should be the effective occupation of the land (uti possidetis). Through ample documentation and efficient negotiation, he thus managed to secure for Portugal (and, after independence, for Brazil) most of the current Brazilian territory.
In 1710, Alexandre de Gusmão moved to Lisbon to live with his brother Bartolomeu de Gusmão. Through contacts in the Portuguese Court, he was appointed secretary to the Portuguese Embassy in Paris, in 1715, where he studied law at the Sorbonne.