Um camaleão oitocentista: imprensa e política na construção da biografia de Luiz Augusto May (Portugal/Londres/Brasil, 1810-1850)

Abstract

This thesis analyzes the political activity of the military man, editor and deputy, Luiz Augusto May, in Portuguese America and the Empire of Brazil. Born in Lisbon in 1782, Luiz May went through important years of the formation of the State in Portuguese America and after independence, being active in the Empire until 1850. He graduated as an Army soldier in 1798. A year later, he won royal permission to work in America, in the Grão-Pará region as a Lieutenant, in the Artillery. In 1810, once again in the Portuguese kingdom, he began to play a role in Portuguese diplomacy, participating in the London Legation under the command of the Plenipotentiary Minister Dom Domingos de Sousa Coutinho. After a few months, he moved to America as an Army captain. In these lands, he served in the State Secretariats as a subordinate of the Count of Galveias. After the death of the latter, Luz Augusto May began to write numerous letters to the sovereign and his Ministers with the intention of requesting new protection, maintaining his position, as well as recovering his military salaries, since he had lost them when he began to occupy diplomacy. In 1813, he was again in the region of Grão-Pará and Rio Negro. On that occasion, it produced opinions on the defense and subsistence conditions of the region. After 8 years, in the context of political ferment surrounding the impasse between the Kingdom of Brazil and the Portuguese Kingdom, Luiz May became a newspaper editor. On that occasion, he founded his own vehicle, titled by him: “A Malagueta”. From his newspaper, he became a well-known figure in the Court of Rio de Janeiro, as well as in other spaces, such as Lisbon and London. His ironic and vehement style, in addition to his strong attack on the Andrada Ministry, brought him serious consequences, such as public demoralization and beatings. Over time, he reached the position of deputy in the Legislatures of 1826 and 1830, having launched important projects. During the Regency Government, he was very firm in his criticism of the government group's project, intensifying his defense for a Federo-Constitutional proposal. In this sense, he became active in the Federalist Society, as its second secretary. With the victory of Evaristo da Veiga's group, the biographer (May) left for Lisbon, joining the Army of Usurpation. It is worth noting that this movement was short-lived, having given up and returning months later. In the mid-1840s, having returned as a Major Officer at the Secretariat of State for some years, he left compelling documentation dealing with the sovereign relations between the Empire of Brazil and England, France and Argentina. In addition to the facts mentioned, it is worth noting that the construction of his biography also reveals frontiers for social ascension in a scenario of firm rules following the Portuguese Old Regime, but which were still maintained in the 1800s, especially for those who, as in this case, did not belong to to traditional families of colonial society