HomeNationsBrazilHeads of StateMoreira da Costa Ribeiro, Delfim
Moreira da Costa Ribeiro, Delfim

Delfim Moreira da Costa Ribeiro

b. 7 Nov 1868, Cristina, Minas Gerais
d. 1 Jul 1920, Santa Rita do Sapucaí, Minas Gerais

Title: Vice-Presidente da República dos Estados Unidos do Brasil, em exercício (Vice President of the Republic of the United States of Brazil in charge)
Term: 15 Nov 1918 - 28 Jul 1919
Chronology: 1 Mar 1918, elected vice president by direct popular voting
  15 Nov 1918, took the oath of office at the session of the National Congress, held at the seat of the Federal Senate, in the Conde dos Arcos Palace, Rio de Janeiro; the functions of President of the Republic devolved on Vice President of the Republic due to the illness of President elect
  28 Jul 1919, ceased to exercise the functions of president with swearing-in of President Epitácio Lindolfo da Silva Pessoa
Biography:
A lawyer by education, Delfim Moreira da Costa Ribeiro returned from São Paulo, where he studied, to his native state, Minas Gerais. Moreira served as municipal councilor at Santa Rita do Sapucaí and Pouso Alegre. He was elected to the state legislature (1894-1902) and later assumed the office of secretary for the interior of Minas Gerais (7 Sep 1902 - 7 Sep 1906). Elected to the federal Chamber of Deputies (1909), Moreira gave up his seat to become a secretary for the interior of Minas Gerais again (7 Sep 1910 - 6 Dec 1913). In 1914 he succeeded Júlio Bueno Brandão as President of the State of Minas Gerais (7 Sep 1914 - 7 Sep 1918). From 1917 to 1920 Moreira was a member of the Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Minas Gerais (Partido Republicano Mineiro). Before completing his term in Minas Gerais, Moreira was elected vice president of the Republic (1 Mar 1918) in alliance with Francisco de Paula Rodrigues Alves, who was elected president at the same election and was to take office on 15 Nov 1918. Alves was prevented from assuming office, being a victim of the "Spanish" influenza epidemic, and Moreira assumed the presidency (15 Nov 1918). The Moreira administration, known to the contemporaries as "republican regency", faced a wave of labor protests and general strike in Rio de Janeiro and Niteroi. After Alves died on 16 Jan 1919, Moreira signed a decree (17 Jan 1919) on holding the election of a new president on 13 Apr 1919. [2] Suffering from sclerosis, Moreira was not fully capable of exercising his duties and transportation minister Afrânio de Melo Franco effectively managed the government affairs. On 28 Jul 1919, the winner of the election, Epitácio Lindolfo da Silva Pessoa, assumed office, and Moreira formally returned to exercising the functions of vice president. His health problems persisted and Moreira died in office on 1 Jul 1920. [3][4]
Elections:

Candidate Popular vote (1 Mar 1918) [5]
Delfim Moreira da Costa Ribeiro 382,491
Emídio Dantas Barreto 376
Rui Barbosa de Oliveira 266
Nilo Procópio Peçanha 237
others less than 237

[1]  
[2] Art. 42 of the 1891 Constitution provided that in any case of vacancy of the office of President or of Vice-President occurring when two years of the presidential teerm of office have not yet elapsed, a new election is to be held. ("Se, no caso de vaga, por qualquer causa, da presidência ou vice-presidência, não houverem ainda decorrido dois anos do período presidencial, proceder-se-á a nova eleição.").
[3] "História da República Brasileira", by Hélio Silva, 21 vol. (São Paulo, Editora Três, 1979).
[4] "Minas Gerais in the Brazilian Federation, 1889-1937", by John D. Worth (Stanford University Press, Stanford 1977).
[5] Dicionário do voto (2000)
  Image: contemporary photograph.