Moreira da Costa Ribeiro, Delfim (1868–1920)

Delfim Moreira da Costa Ribeiro (b. 7 November 1868; d. 1 July 1920), president of Brazil (November 1918–July 1919). Moreira was a native of Minas Gerais, one of the most influential states of Brazil's First Republic (1889–1930). In the years following graduation from the São Paulo School of Law, the premier training ground for the Republican elite, Moreira garnered the support of the Partido Republicano Mineiro in several successful campaigns for state office. From 1914 to 1918 Moreira served as presidente (governor) of Minas Gerais, where he gained a national reputation as a skillful leader of the state's powerful political and economic interests.

In 1918 Moreira was elected vice president of Brazil on a ticket with Paulista presidential candidate Rodrigues Alves. However, Moreira was sworn in as interim president when Alves was too ill to assume the presidency on the day of inauguration. Alves died on 18 January 1919, and Moreira's interim presidency was extended pending the appointment of a new president. During his eight-month presidency, Moreira himself fell ill and the majority of daily presidential duties were carried out by the minister of the interior, Afrânio de Melo Franco. In July 1919 the federal legislature voted Epitácio Pessoa president and Moreira resumed his position as vice president, which he held until his death a year later.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Raúl Alves Da Souza, História política dos governos da república (1927).

John D. Wirth, Minas Gerais in the Brazilian Federation, 1889–1937 (1977).

E. Bradford Burns, A History of Brazil (1980).

Additional Bibliography

Beattie, Peter M. The Human Tradition in Modern Brazil. Wilmington, DE: SR Books, 2004.

Schnieder, Ronald M. Order and Progress: A Political History of Brazil. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1991.

                                  Daryle Williams