Gonçalves de Freitas (Viscount of)

Pedro Maria Gonçalves de Freitas, Viscount of Gonçalves de Freitas, was born on this island on 17 March 1836, the son of Captain António Joaquim Gonçalves de Freitas and Dona Eulália Cândida Gonçalves de Freitas. He took up the legal profession early, as a licensed advocate (advogado provisionista, practising by licence without a law degree), and in it he won the reputation of a distinguished and brilliant pleader. He acted in several cases that became famous, always displaying the force of his extraordinary talent, the acuity of his mind and the ingenious dialectic of his reasoning, together with fluent, imaginative language full of warmth and enthusiasm that deeply impressed his audiences.

As a politician he enjoyed extraordinary prestige here, and there was a time when he was the most influential party figure in the whole archipelago. He represented Madeira in the Cortes (Portuguese parliament) as a deputy in the legislatures of 1884 and 1887 and from 1894 to 1895, and as an elective peer of the realm (par do reino electivo, elected member of the upper chamber) in the legislative session of 1887 to 1889. He was also deputy for the archipelago of Cape Verde, where he lived for some years practising law.

He was a senior customs official and served as director of the Funchal customs house, and also held other public-service commissions, such as that of civil governor of this district.

He edited the former periodical O Direito and contributed to other publications, proving himself a distinguished journalist. In the national parliament he displayed his brilliant qualities as a parliamentarian, both as an orator and as a profound expert on the matters he dealt with there. He died in this city on 6 July 1915, aged 79.