Arnolfo Azevedo was a prominent figure in the Partido Republicano Paulista during the latter half of the Old Republic, and held three major posts—the presidency of the chamber of deputies (1921-27); a federal senatorship (1927-30) ; and a seat on the powerful PRP executive committee (1924-30).
His career was almost archetypical of PRP leaders in his generation. Born into a leading fazendeiro family in the Paraíba Valley, Azevedo attended elite colégios and the São Paulo Law School, graduating in 1891 and joining the PRP the same year. He then held a series of public offices in his home town, Lorena. Following a brief falling-out with PRP leaders, he surfaced as a federal deputy in 1903, and thereafter represented São Paulo state in the national capital until the revolution of 1930 ended his congressional service.
That a son’s biography would insist on his subject’s good judgment and highmindedness at every juncture is perhaps to be expected, but Azevedo’s character emerges clearly: he was rigid, sober, honest, unexpansive, and humorless.
The study is partly based on hitherto unpublished documents in Azevedo’s private papers, which, as they appear here, contain few surprises. We do get a confirmation of the decisiveness and toughness of Washington Luís, and see his role more clearly, for example, in the May 1922 presidential succession crisis. Yet we must lament the author’s virtual silence on Azevedo’s role in most of the events that critically affected São Paulo—for example, the valorization transactions of 1917, 1921, and 1924, and the presidential successions of 1910 and 1930. Missing also are descriptions of PRP executive committee operations and the political dynamics of the chamber when Azevedo was its president.
