Brito Camacho

Manuel de Brito Camacho (12 February 1862, Aljustrel — 19 September 1934, Lisbon) a Portuguese military officer, writer, publicist and politician, who among other positions, was Minister of Public Works, Commerce and Industry (1910–1911) and Republican High Commissioner to Portuguese Mozambique (1921 and 1923). He was the founder of the Partido Unionista (Union Party), and director of the newspaper A Luta (The Struggle), the mouthpiece of the same Party.

Biography

Manuel de Brito Camacho was born on Monte das Mesas, in the vicinity of Rio de Moinhos, a few kilometers from the village of Aljustrel, to a rural family of farmers. He was the half-brother of Inocêncio Camacho Rodrigues, the governor of the Bank of Portugal involved in the scandal caused by the thefts of Alves dos Reis.

After primary studies in Aljustrel (1876–1880), he attended the Beja secondary school, afterward leaving for Lisbon where he attend preparatory studies at the Escola Politécnica, as a ward of uncle in Lisbon. Upon concluding his studies, he entered into the faculty of Medicine in the School of Medical-Surgery of Lisbon, completing his course in 1884, where he began his career in the parish of Torrão, Alcácer do Sal.

In 1891 he joined the Portuguese Army as surgeon-adjunct, and assigned to the military units in Tancos and later Torres Novas, a career that would ultimately make him a colonel.

Political career

His political career began in the 1893 General Elections, when he was a candidate for the district of Beja on the Republican electoral list. At that time he published Nove de Junho (Ninth of June), which questioned monarchist institutions. Following the election, he was disciplined, suspended for a year and transferred to the 2nd Division in Viseu. Shortly afterward he was reassigned to the Azores for his republican ideals, where he remained for a year.