Upon his graduation (1801) from the University of Coimbra, Portugal, with a degree in law, Nicolau Pereira de Campos Vergueiro departed for Brazil (1803) to pursue a career of colonial lawyer. He was practicing law in São Paulo later moving to Piracicaba, where he became involved in agricultural business. As a representative of landowners, Vergueiro was nominated a member of the Provisional Junta of the Province of São Paulo in 1821. Elected a deputy to the Portuguese Côrtes (1822), Vergueiro traveled to Portugal, where he strongly advocated Brazilian independence. He returned to Brazil in July 1823. In the meantime, he was elected a member of the Constituent Assembly of Brazil. After the dissolution of the Assembly (11/12 Nov 1823) on the orders of Emperor Pedro I, Vergueiro was arrested. Being a moderate liberal, Vergueiro accepted the Constitution of 1824 imposed by Pedro I. The election to the Chamber of Deputies returned Vergueiro as a deputy for São Paulo (1826-1828). He also served as a member of the Governing Council of São Paulo (1826-1829, 1830- 1833) and became a senator for Minas Gerais (1828-1859). Following the abdication of Pedro I (7 Apr 1831) engineered by a group of liberal politicians including Vergueiro, the latter was elected a member of the Provisional Regency and chaired its meetings as president by age. After seventy days of government, the Provisional Regency was replaced by the Permanent Regency (18 Jun 1831), but Vergueiro failed to be elected a member of the new body receiving only six votes. In 1832 Vergueiro headed the government as minister of the interior (13 Sep 1832 - 23 May 1833) and also held a post of finance minister. Vergueiro was a member of the Provincial Assembly of São Paulo (1835-1847), president of the Legislative Assembly of São Paulo (1835-1837) and vice president of the Province (1835-1836). In 1837-1842 he served as director of the Academy of Law in São Paulo. After the failure of a liberal revolution in 1842, which was suppressed by imperial troops, Vergueiro was arrested and amnestied two years later. In 1847 he held a portfolio of justice minister. [1] |
