| Alfredo d'Escragnolle Taunay | |
|---|---|
A painting of Taunay |
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| Born | Alfredo Maria Adriano d'Escragnolle Taunay 22 February 1843 Rio de Janeiro City, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Died | 25 January 1899 (aged 55) Rio de Janeiro City, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Pen name | Sílvio Dinarte |
| Occupation | Writer, musician, professor, military engineer, historian, politician, sociologist |
| Nationality | Brazilian |
| Alma mater | Colégio Pedro II |
| Literary movement | Romanticism |
| Notable work(s) | Inocência, A Retirada da Laguna |
| Spouse(s) | Cristina Teixeira Leite |
| Children | Afonso d'Escragnolle Taunay |
| Relative(s) | Félix Taunay, Nicolas-Antoine Taunay |
Alfredo Maria Adriano d'Escragnolle Taunay, Viscount of Taunay (February 22, 1843 — January 25, 1899) was a Brazilian writer, musician, professor, military engineer, historian, politician, sociologist and nobleman. He is famous for the Regionalist novel Inocência.
He founded and occupied the 13th chair of the Brazilian Academy of Letters from 1897 until his death in 1899.
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Taunay was born in Rio de Janeiro, in 1843. His father was Félix Taunay, a painter, professor and headmaster of the Escola Nacional de Belas Artes; his mother, Gabriela Hermínia Robert d'Escragnolle Taunay, was one of the sisters of Gastão d'Escragnolle, the Baron d'Escragnolle; and his grandfather was the famous French painter Nicolas-Antoine Taunay. Growing up in a cultured environment, Taunay studied Literature and Humanities at the Colégio Pedro II, graduating in 1858. He would study Physics and Mathematics in what is now the Academia Militar das Agulhas Negras. An Ensign in 1862, bachelor in Mathematics in 1863 and an Artillery Lieutenant in 1864, he was matriculated in the second year of military engineering, but he did not finish it because of the Paraguayan War. From his experiences at the war, he wrote the memoirs Cenas de Viagem in 1868 and the famous historic account La Retraite de Laguna (French for The Retreat of Laguna) in 1872, translating it to Portuguese two years later.
Taunay wrote and published his first romance, Mocidade de Trajano (Trajan's Youth), in 1871, under the pen name Sílvio Dinarte. Appointed by the future Viscount of Rio Branco José Maria da Silva Paranhos, Sr., he became the general deputy of Goiás from 1872 to 1875, a Major in 1875 and the governor of Santa Catarina from 1876 to 1877. In 1885, he would ask his demission of the Major post.
Taunay married Cristina Teixeira Leite, daughter of Francisco José Teixeira Leite, the Baron of Vassouras, granddaughter of Francisco José Teixeira, the 1st Baron of Itambé, and step-niece of Custódio Ferreira Leite, the Baron of Aiuruoca. They would have one son, the future historian Afonso d'Escragnolle Taunay (1876–1958).
Taunay was a member of the Conservative Party, but when the party fell, in 1878, he travelled to Europe, returning only in 1880.
From 1881 to 1884, he was the deputy of Santa Catarina. He candidated himself to the post of deputy of Rio de Janeiro, but was defeated. From 1885 to 1886, he became the governor of Paraná.
In 1889, Emperor Pedro II gave him the title of Viscount of Taunay. However, when Brazil became a Republic, the nobility ranks were all abolished. Taunay, disgusted, abandoned his political career, since he was a monarchist.
He died in 1899.
| Preceded by New creation |
Viscount of Taunay 1889 |
Succeeded by None (title abolished) |
| Preceded by Francisco Otaviano (patron) |
Brazilian Academy of Letters - Occupant of the 13th chair 1897 — 1899 |
Succeeded by Francisco de Castro |