Brazilian "Citizen-Emperor" Pedro II: politician, linguist, orientalist and pilgrim

Abstract

During periods of acute political crises, wars, formation of state foundations, the effectiveness of the leader's personal style, his strategy and tactics play an important role. The history of Brazil is impossible to understand without studying the personality of the Brazilian Emperor Pedro II, the “citizen-emperor”, the man of encyclopedic knowledge, the supporter of the ideals of enlightenment, who was on the throne for almost 50 years. The monarch's travels in Europe and the Middle East made Brazil "visible" to these countries. Don Pedro, who knew well the social philosophy and theory of Charles Darwin, became the only emperor who went through the Holy Land with the Bible in his hands, striving to fully understand the Holy Scriptures, and personally made a number of translations from the Old Testament. The personal qualities of the monarch – delicacy, attentiveness, tolerance – were complemented by persistence and exactingness in addressing key issues. This style allowed him to be actively present on the political scene and achieve relative stability when Brazil was called a “crown democracy”. The purpose of the article is to show the role of the Emperor in preserving the territorial unity of the country, its economic development, in understanding the importance of religion in the upbringing and moral improvement of a person, along with education and culture. The author relies in the study on the principles of historicism and integrity, applies the problem-chronological method in the presentation of the material.