Arriaga (Dr Manuel de)

The name of the illustrious Dr Manuel de Arriaga is bound up with the history of Madeira, for he represented this archipelago in parliament during the legislative session of 1882 to 1884. On the death of the deputy for the Funchal constituency, our distinguished fellow Madeiran Dr Luís de Freitas Branco, an election to fill the vacancy was held on 5 November 1882. Councillor (conselheiro, honorary title of the royal council) Anselmo José Braancamp came first, but he did not obtain an absolute majority of the votes, so the election was repeated on 26 November of the same year. This time Dr Manuel de Arriaga was elected.

On 28 April 1911 the Madeirans again chose him as their representative in the Cortes (Portuguese parliament), but when he was elected President of the Republic on 24 August of that year, he left his seat as deputy vacant.

Dr Manuel de Arriaga was one of the deputies for Madeira who championed the interests of their constituents in the national parliament with the greatest dedication and selflessness, and with even more remarkable brilliance, delivering speeches that became famous in the annals of parliamentary eloquence.

At the invitation of his fellow party members and friends in Madeira, the illustrious advocate first visited the island on 8 September 1883, when he was given one of the most enthusiastic and brilliant receptions that Funchal has ever prepared for its most distinguished visitors. He toured the parishes bordering the city and the parishes of the municipalities of Sant'Ana and Machico, and everywhere he was the object of the most rapturous demonstrations of esteem and sympathy from his personal and political friends. He left Madeira on 15 September 1883, receiving the most affectionate and moving farewell. In 1884 he visited Madeira again, accompanied by the illustrious professor Dr Consiglieri Pedroso, and he was on the island for the last time in 1885.

Dr Arriaga won a large number of votes in the parliamentary elections held in 1884, but he failed to be elected because of the way the poll was conducted in some of the polling assemblies. The armed force stationed at Ribeira Brava (‘wild river’) even opened fire on the people on 29 June, leaving some dead and wounded.

When several republicans were prosecuted over the events at Ribeira Brava, they were defended by Dr Arriaga and Dr José de Castro at the trial held in the judicial district (comarca) of Ponta do Sol (‘point of the sun’) in April 1885. Of the twenty-eight defendants who appeared to answer the charges, twenty-two were acquitted and six convicted, but the latter merely for having assaulted the factor (feitor) of the late Russel Gordon.

Dr Arriaga was born in the city of Horta, on the island of Faial, in 1841, and died in Lisbon on 5 March 1917.