Aristeu Borges de Aguiar

Who was Aristeu Borges de Aguiar?

Aristeu Borges de Aguiar was a Brazilian lawyer, teacher and politician. He graduated in Laws in Rio de Janeiro in 1915 and worked in Vitória as a public law attorney. In 1919 he began working as a teacher of World's History and Brazilian History at the school Gymnasium of Espirito Santo. In 1924, by invitation of the governor Florentino Ávidos, he occupied the functions of state's secretary for Education, for a brief time. In 1928, he was elected the 18th president of the state of Espírito Santo.

It was in the time of his term as governor that the Wall Street's crisis took place, which especially affected Espirito Santo's economy, mostly dependent on the monoculture of the coffee back in that days.

Also, Aristeu de Aguiar supported Julio Prestes as candidate for the presidence of Brazil in the elections of March 1930. In spite those elections were actually won by Julio Prestes, the loser candidate, Getúlio Vargas, alleging electoral fraud, launched a national rebellion in order to take the office as President of Brazil by force. Hence Aristeu de Aguiar was a supporter of Julio Prestes, he abandoned the govern of Espirito Santo due to the invasion of the state by the troops of the colonel Otávio Campos do Amaral, supporter of Vargas' rebellion. Aguiar escaped to Portugal on board of the Italian cargo ship Atlanta. As his legal successor, the vice-governor Joaquim Teixeira de Mesquita, ran away as well, the President of Brazil, Washington Luís, appointed the legalist colonel José Armando Ribeiro de Paula as a provisional governor for the state.