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| José Linhares | |
|---|---|
| Name | José Linhares |
| Birth date | 17 November 1886 |
| Birth place | Macaíba, Rio Grande do Norte |
| Death date | 10 November 1957 |
| Death place | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Occupation | jurist, judge, politician |
| Office | President of Brazil |
| Term start | 29 October 1945 |
| Term end | 31 January 1946 |
| Predecessor | Getúlio Vargas |
| Successor | Eurico Gaspar Dutra |
José Linhares was a Brazilian jurist and judge who served as interim President of Brazil from October 1945 to January 1946 while president of the Supreme Federal Court (Supremo Tribunal Federal). A prominent figure in the Brazilian legal profession and judiciary, Linhares played a stabilizing role during the transition from the Estado Novo period to the post-war constitutional order. His brief presidency oversaw the organization of general elections that returned constitutional rule to Brazil.
Born in Macaíba, Rio Grande do Norte, Linhares moved to Recife for schooling and later to Pernambuco and São Paulo for further studies. He attended the Faculty of Law in São Paulo and completed legal training in the milieu of prominent Brazilian jurists and intellectuals. His formative years coincided with shifts in Brazilian politics around the Republic of 1889 and the early First Republic political realignments involving figures from Rio Grande do Sul, São Paulo, and Minas Gerais.
Linhares began his career in the prosecutor's office and later served as a prosecutor in São Paulo and Rio Grande do Norte, interacting with institutions such as the Ministério Público do Estado de São Paulo and regional courts. He held posts in the federal judiciary and participated in high-profile cases before the Superior Tribunal Federal and regional appellate courts in Rio de Janeiro. Linhares was noted for legal opinions that engaged with jurisprudence emanating from the Supreme Federal Court, the Constitution of 1934, and the legal debates following the Revolution of 1930. He developed professional relationships with contemporaries such as Getúlio Vargas, Washington Luís, and members of the Academia Brasileira de Letras and law faculties across Brazilian universities.
Appointed to the Supreme Federal Court by President Getúlio Vargas, Linhares became one of the Court's distinguished ministers and later its president. His tenure on the Court occurred during the Estado Novo authoritarian period (1937–1945) and the immediate post-war legal reordering influenced by international developments such as the United Nations and the Yalta Conference aftermath. Linhares participated in rulings touching on constitutional questions related to the 1937 Constitution, administrative law controversies, and disputes involving federal powers in states like Minas Gerais, Goiás, and Bahia. As president of the Court, he presided over collegial sessions that included justices appointed by presidents Getúlio Vargas and Washington Luís, and he worked with legal figures connected to the Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil.
Following the deposition of Getúlio Vargas on 29 October 1945 by elements of the Brazilian Army and political actors from the UDN and other parties, the presidency fell to the head of the Supreme Federal Court under constitutional succession norms. Linhares assumed the interim Presidency of Brazil with the mandate to maintain order and organize free elections. During his short administration he coordinated with military leaders including Marshal Eurico Gaspar Dutra and civilian political currents such as the PTB, the PSD, the UDN, and emergent groups in Rio Grande do Sul and São Paulo. He also engaged diplomatically with foreign envoys from United States, United Kingdom, Argentina, and other countries monitoring post-war transitions in Latin America.
Linhares' government annulled certain wartime decrees and restored civil liberties curtailed during the Estado Novo, enabling the reconstitution of political parties like the PTB, UDN, and PSD and the activity of the Partido Comunista do Brasil prior to its later restrictions. He oversaw the promulgation of regulations for the 1945 general election that led to the victory of Eurico Gaspar Dutra in January 1946. Linhares' administration coordinated with electoral bodies including the Tribunal Superior Eleitoral and regional electoral juntas in states such as Bahia, Paraná, and Rio Grande do Sul to ensure voting procedures. His measures affected public servants, press outlets in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, and the reestablishment of parliamentary activity anticipated by the framers of the Constitution of 1946.
After leaving the presidency, Linhares returned to the Supreme Federal Court until his retirement, continuing to influence Brazilian jurisprudence and legal education through writings and participation in institutions such as the Academia Brasileira de Letras and law faculties in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. He died in Rio de Janeiro in 1957. Linhares is remembered in histories of the Estado Novo, the 1945 transition, and the drafting of the Constitution of 1946; historians reference his role alongside figures like Getúlio Vargas, Eurico Gaspar Dutra, Juscelino Kubitschek, Carlos Lacerda, Otávio Mangabeira, and scholars of Brazilian constitutional law. His legacy endures in discussions of constitutional succession, judicial independence, and transitional administrations in twentieth-century Latin America.
Category:1886 births Category:1957 deaths Category:Presidents of Brazil Category:Supreme Federal Court of Brazil