Dom Pedro II was the second and last monarch of the Empire of Brazil, reigning for over 58 years. He inherited an empire on the verge of disintegration, but he turned Brazil into an emerging power in the international arena. A savant in his own right, the Emperor established a reputation as a vigorous sponsor of learning, culture, and the sciences. He was overthrown in a sudden coup d’état that had almost no support outside a clique of military leaders who desired a form of republic headed by a dictator.
About Pedro II of Brazil in brief
Dom Pedro II was the second and last monarch of the Empire of Brazil, reigning for over 58 years. He inherited an empire on the verge of disintegration, but he turned Brazil into an emerging power in the international arena. A savant in his own right, the Emperor established a reputation as a vigorous sponsor of learning, culture, and the sciences. He won the respect and admiration of people such as Charles Darwin, Victor Hugo, and Friedrich Nietzsche, and was a friend to Richard Wagner, Louis Pasteur, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He was overthrown in a sudden coup d’état that had almost no support outside a clique of military leaders who desired a form of republic headed by a dictator. He spent the last two years of his life in exile in Europe, living alone on very little money. Historians have regarded the Emperor in an extremely positive light and several have ranked him as the greatest Brazilian. The only legitimate male child of Emperor Dom Pedro I to survive infancy, he was officially recognized as apparent heir to the throne with the title Prince Imperial on 6 August 1826. His mother was the Archduchess Maria Leopoldina of Austria, daughter of Franz II, the last Holy Roman Emperor. Through his mother, Pedro was a nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte and first cousin of Emperors Napoleon II of France, Joseph I of Austria-Hungary and Don Maximiliano of Mexico. He died on 11 April 1831, a year and a half after a stillbirth, when his father Amélie Leuchtenberg departed for Europe.
Two years later, his father married Amélie Leuch tenberg, leaving Pedro as a half-brother to his brother Miguel I, which had been usurped by his brother Dom João VI. His father’s abrupt abdication and departure to Europe in 1831 left the five year-old as emperor and led to a grim and lonely childhood and adolescence, obliged to spend his time studying in preparation for rule. His experiences with court intrigues and political disputes during this period greatly affected his later character; he grew into a man with a strong sense of duty and devotion toward his country and his people, yet increasingly resentful of his role as monarch. He did not allow his ouster to be opposed and did not support any attempt to restore the monarchy. The men who had exiled him soon began to see in him a model for the Brazilian republic. A few decades after his death, his reputation was restored and his remains were returned to Brazil with celebrations nationwide. The reign of Pedro II thus came to an unusual end—he was overthoken while highly regarded by the people and at the pinnacle of his popularity, and some of his accomplishments were soon brought to naught as Brazil slipped into a long period of weak governments, dictatorships, and constitutional and economic crises. He had a son named Pedro de Alcântara João Carlos Leop oldo Salvador Bibiano Francisco Xavier de Paula Leocádio Miguel Gabriel Rafael Gonzaga.
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