He received a degree from the Instituto Geral de Agricultura in agronomy, where he later became a professor. He was associated with liberal literary circles associated with the poet
Antero de Quental, and was one of the founders of the magazine
Revista Ocidental in 1875. He became consul at
Newcastle, United Kingdom in 1882, and remained in the
diplomatic service for the remainder of his life. He was active in negotiation about the Portuguese colonies in Africa, and was elected a member of the
Royal Geographical Society. After the establishment of the
Portuguese First Republic, he was appointed Minister to
Russia, and then his country's delegate to the 1919
Versailles Peace Conference and the commission to write the
Covenant of the League of Nations. ==References==