Firmino Pires Ferreira

Firmino was born in Barras, on 25 September 1848, the son of José Pires Ferreira and Maria Joaquina de Jesus Castello Branco Carvalho de Almeida. He had 10 siblings, and was the 5th youngest. He also had 12 half-siblings. ==Empire of Brazil==

Paraguayan War Firmino enlisted in the Brazilian Army on 11 January 1865 as a private. He volunteered to fight in the Paraguayan War and served the Engineering Battalion. On 18 January 1868, he was promoted to lieutenant and was given the responsibility for transporting construction material through the Chaco pathway. His performance was cheered by the Captain Manoel Peixoto Cursino de Amarante. On 19 February 1868, Firmino was part of the Passage of Humaitá, where he served the charcana garrison. On 8 May, he commanded 24 sappers and destroyed the defense structures from the Paraguayan troops that were obstructing the Chaco passageway. In the same year, he was onboard of the monitor Rio Grande during a mission to protect the withdrawal of the Brazilian infantry. His performance was cheered by the Marquis of Caxias. He also helped taking over the fortifications that covered the passage of Jebiquari. On 12 August 1869, he was part of the Battle of Piribebuy. He was part of the vanguard troops that took over Piribebuy and was wounded. He was cheered by the Captain Deodoro da Fonseca and promoted to 1st Lieutenant. During the war, he became personal friends with Deodoro, Floriano Peixoto and Hermes da Fonseca. Military education and career In 1870, Firmino came back from the war and moved to Rio de Janeiro. He was accepted in the Court Military School. He graduated and was promoted to captain in 1874. In 1875, he taught at the Tiro de Guerra of Campo Grande, in Mato Grosso. In 1879, he was promoted as Major and joined the Artillery General Staff. In 1889, he was promoted as Lieutenant Colonel and became Subdirector of the War Arsenal. Firmino was a personal friend of Emperor Pedro II. ==Old Republic==

First years in the Old Republic Firmino helped Deodoro da Fonseca to overthrow Emperor Pedro II Hering the Proclamation of the Republic on 15 November 1889 and was promoted to colonel in 1890. In September 1893, he commanded the 6th Brigade to defend Floriano Peixoto government during the Revolta da Armada. In 1894, he was elected as Senator. He was reelected 9 times, serving up until 1920, and was part of the Commissions of the Navy, War and Constitution and Justice. In 1895, he was promoted to Brigadier general. Firmino was also a First Class Instructor in the Military School of Realengo from Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande do Sul and Inspector of the Military Schools of Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande do Sul. In 1892, Coriolano de Carvalho e Silva, Governor of Piauí, fought with Baron of Castelo Branco, as the later denied an alliance to exclude Simplício Coelho de Resende from politics. The situation worsened when Resende was arrested in 1895 in the Gabino Besouro Government for publishing a note in his journal, O Democrata, for the hiring of a sentenced criminal as cooker for the Government Palace. In 1896, Firmino and other powerful politicians that felt excluded formed a colligation against Raimundo Arthur de Vasconcelos, Governor of Piauí and political inheritor from Coriolano de Carvalho. The colligation was supported by the president Prudente de Morais and used O Democrata to attack the Governor. Raimundo, then, closed himself in an inner circle for the elections of 1896 and tried to renovate his allies as senators and congressmen. One of the candidates for the Senate in the Raimundo colligation was Joaquim de Lima Pires Ferreira, brother of Raimundo. Firmino group allied with the Federal Republican Party (PRF) and the Republican Legalist Party (PRL), but the elections were deemed fraudulent by both sides. Pachequismo lasted for two governments, from João Luís Ferreira and Matias Olímpio de Melo. Melo's government was marked by a raise in violence in the state, as he had to fight cangaceiros and the Coluna Prestes. In 1927, the federal judge Lucrécio Dantas Avelino was murdered in his own house, and the opposition accused Melo to be the responsible, and Melo accused Eurípedes of the crime. Fernando used the instability of pachequismo and the support of the president Washington Luís, as his grandchild, Firmino Pires de Mello, was married to the presidents daughter, to be elected as a Senator. Félix won the election, but Fernando contested on STF and was elected instead, with Félix becoming ineligible. The structure of power change once again, and Melo was obligated to colligate with Fernando, that supported João de Deus Pires Leal as governor. When João won the elections, his government began to substitute political opponents from the public machine. João de Deus also interfered directly in the elections, when he supported the election of José Pires Ferreira Neto to the Legislative Assembly of Piauí. ==Death==

Firmino was elected for another term as Senator in 1930, but he died On 21 July, creating a vacuum of power on Piauí politics. Shortly after, Getúlio Vargas came to power, and his house was searched for the secret archives of Firmino and Washington Luís. The documents vanished afterwards, never to be found again. In Piauí, João de Deus was deposed and Matias Olímpio came to power. The Pires Ferreira were persecuted and eventually Firmino was forgotten from Piauí history. ==Personal life==

Firmino married with his cousin, Lina Pires Ferreira, on Engenho Paraíso, São Bernardo, on 15 November 1875. The party lasted for two days, and his slaves were part of the festivities. They had three children, Lina Pires Ferreira, Maria Pires Ferreira and Julieta Pires Ferreira. In Rio de Janeiro, he lived at Cosme Velho. He was such a receptive personality that the U-shaped staircases from Rio were known as "Pires Ferreira Stairs". On the other hand, he was very authoritarian in Piauí. He was nicknamed "Angry Cow" by Floriano Peixoto and "Pifer Senator" during his time as a politician. ==Cultural impact==

Firmino was parodied by Osório Duque-Estrada on História do Brasil Pelo Método Confuso (1917) and José Madeira de Freitas on Feira Livre (1923). There is a street in Teresina calles Firmino Pires. A monument was built in homage of Firmino Pires Ferreira at Praça da Matriz, Barras. A school at Praça da Bonelle, Pedro II, was named Marechal Pires Ferreira. == Distinctions ==

• Order of Avis • Order of the Southern Cross • Golden Medal (Brazil) • Golden Medal (Argentina) • Golden Medal (Uruguay) ==References==