Afonso Pena

His Excellency Afonso Pena
Official portrait, 1906
6th President of Brazil
In office 15 November 1906 – 14 June 1909
Vice President	Nilo Peçanha
Preceded by	Rodrigues Alves
Succeeded by	Nilo Peçanha
Vice President of Brazil
In office 23 June 1903 – 15 November 1906
President	Rodrigues Alves
Preceded by	Rosa e Silva
Succeeded by	Nilo Peçanha
Other offices held 1903–1906 President of the Senate 1900–1903 State Senator of Minas Gerais 1899–1902 President of the Deliberative Council of Belo Horizonte 1895–1898 President of the Bank of the Republic 1892–1894 President of Minas Gerais 1891–1891 State Senator of Minas Gerais 1886–1889 General Deputy for Minas Gerais 1885–1885 Minister of Justice 1883–1884 Minister of Agriculture 1882–1882 Minister of War 1878–1882 General Deputy for Minas Gerais 1874–1878 Provincial Deputy of Minas Gerais
Personal details
Born	(1847-11-30)30 November 1847 Santa Bárbara, Minas Gerais, Empire of Brazil
Died	14 June 1909(1909-06-14) (aged 61) Rio de Janeiro, Federal District, Brazil
Cause of death	Pneumonia
Resting place	Afonso Pena Memorial
Political party	Liberal (1874–1889) PRM (1891–1909)
Spouse	Maria Guilhermina de Oliveira ​ ​ (m. 1875)​
Children	9
Alma mater	Faculty of Law of São Paulo (LL.B., LL.D.)
Occupation	Lawyer professor politician
Signature
Military service
Rank	Brigadier general

Afonso Augusto Moreira Pena^[a] (30 November 1847 – 14 June 1909), often referred to as Afonso Pena, was a Brazilian lawyer, professor, and politician who served as the 6th president of Brazil, from 1906 until his death in 1909. Pena was elected in 1906, the chosen successor of president Rodrigues Alves. Pena was the first politician from Minas Gerais to win the presidency, ending the series of politicians from São Paulo who had held the presidency since 1894. Before his presidency, he served as the 4th vice president of Brazil, under Rodrigues Alves (1903–1906) after the death of Silviano Brandão. Pena was a monarchist. He was the only member of Emperor Pedro II's cabinet to become president of Brazil and the first Brazilian president to die in office.

Pena was born in Santa Bárbara, Minas Gerais, in 1847. His father, Domingos José Teixeira Pena, was a Portuguese immigrant who owned slaves and a gold mine. After graduating with a law degree from the Faculty of Law of São Paulo and becoming a doctor at the same institution, Pena returned to his hometown, where he began to work as an attorney, later moving to Barbacena and becoming known for defending slaves. His political career began in 1874 when he joined the Liberal Party and was elected to the Provincial Assembly of Minas Gerais. In 1878, he was elected general deputy for Minas Gerais. In the succeeding years he reconciled legislative work with some periods occupying ministries—Ministry of War (1882), Agriculture (1883–1884), and Justice (1885).

After the proclamation of the Republic, Pena withdrew from public life; however, he was soon called upon to join the Republican Party of Minas Gerais (PRM) and run for the State Senate in order to help with the creation of the new state constitution. Pena was elected for the position in 1891 and presided over the commission that was tasked with drafting the constitution. After resigning his position in the Senate, Pena was elected president of Minas Gerais by consensus of the several political currents in the state, serving from 1892 to 1894. It was during his administration that Belo Horizonte was established as the future state capital (which at that time was Ouro Preto) and the Faculty of Law of Minas Gerais was founded. After presiding over the Bank of the Republic from 1895 to 1898, Pena became vice president to Rodrigues Alves in 1903. As vice president, he also served as president of the Senate.

Pena became president of Brazil in 1906 after an uncontested single-candidate election. He was the first Brazilian president to advocate intervening in the coffee economy, putting into practice the Taubaté Agreement, after which the federal government began to buy production surplus in order to maintain the high price of coffee in international markets. Pena's government promoted the expansion of railways and immigration, the modernization and reorganization of the Brazilian Army with the introduction of the Sortition Law, and the rearmament of the Brazilian Navy, with the acquisition of new ships. Pena also supported Cândido Rondon's expeditions in the Amazon rainforest, which linked it to Rio de Janeiro by telegraph. In the international sphere, Brazil took part in the Hague Convention of 1907, with a delegation led by Ruy Barbosa, and solved its border issues with neighboring countries. Tensions with Argentina reached a peak due to Brazil's acquisition of the Minas Geraes-class battleships, which provoked the South American dreadnought race, and both countries hovered on the brink of war. In his final years in the presidency, Pena unsuccessfully tried to nominate David Campista as his successor. Pena died from severe pneumonia in 1909, being succeeded by Nilo Peçanha.

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