Jose Bonifacio de Andrada e Silva

José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva was born on June 13, 1763, in Santos, São Paulo, then part of the Portuguese Empire. He studied natural sciences and law at the University of Coimbra in Portugal, where he became a distinguished scholar and professor of geology. He also served as the inspector-general of the Portuguese mines and the secretary of the Lisbon Academy of Sciences. He returned to Brazil in 1819 and became involved in the political movement for independence from Portugal. He supported Prince Regent Pedro, who declared Brazil's independence in 1822 and became Emperor Pedro I. José Bonifácio was appointed as the minister of the interior and of foreign affairs, and he advocated for a constitutional monarchy, public education, abolition of slavery, and a new national capital in the interior. He also wrote poems and essays on various topics, such as history, politics, philosophy, and natural sciences. He discovered four new minerals and named one of them petalite, after the Greek word for leaf. He was also a member of several scientific societies and academies in Europe and America. He faced opposition from both conservative and radical factions in Brazil, and he was dismissed from office in 1823. He was later arrested and exiled for his involvement in a conspiracy against Pedro I, who abdicated in 1831. He returned to Brazil and became the tutor and guardian of Pedro II, the young emperor. He also served as a deputy in the National Assembly, where he defended the rights of the indigenous people and the environment. He contracted tuberculosis in 1836 and died on April 6, 1838, in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in Brazilian history and the "Patriarch of Independence".