Francisco de Lima e Silva

The son of a prominent military officer, Francisco de Lima e Silva entered the military service as a cadet of the Bragança regiment and was promoted to lieutenant in 1799. Raising to the rank of colonel, Lima e Silva commanded a battalion during the suppression of a revolution in Pernambuco in 1824 and served as interim president of the Province of Pernambuco. After the war with the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, Lima e Silva was appointed military governor of the Province of São Paulo (5 Sep 1828 - 5 Nov 1829, 9 Dec 1830 - 19 Mar 1831) and interim military governor of the Court and the Province of Rio de Janeiro (5 Dec 1829 - 9 Dec 1830). On 7 Apr 1831 Lima e Silva read out the abdication of Emperor Pedro I to the General Assembly. As a representative of the Brazilian military, Lima e Silva was elected a member of the Provisional Regency and then Permanent Regency. He chaired the meetings of the Permanent Regency as president by age. At the time of death of João Bráulio Muniz (20 Sep 1835), José da Costa Carvalho had retired without resigning and refused to rejoin Lima e Silva. The Senate voted to call the General Assembly to elect a replacement for Muniz, but the Chamber of Deputies voted "no"; thus Lima e Silva acted de facto alone from 20 Sep 1835 to 12 Oct 1835. In 1837 Lima e Silva was elected senator for the Province of Rio de Janeiro. [1; 2]