Joaquim Nabuco

Joaquim Aurélio Barreto Nabuco de Araújo (August 19, 1849 – January 17, 1910) was a Brazilian statesman, diplomat, a leading voice in the abolitionist movement of his country, historian, jurist, journalist, and one of the founders of the Brazilian Academy of Letters (Academia Brasileira de Letras).

He was one of the great diplomats of the Empire of Brazil, and also an orator, a poet, and a memoirist. Alongside O Abolicionismo (Abolitionism), Minha Formação (My Formation) stands as a memoir of the highest order, where one perceives the paradox of someone who grew up in a family of slaveholders but chose to fight for the abolition of slavery. Nabuco confessed to feeling a "nostalgia for the slaves" due to their generosity, which contrasted with the selfishness of their masters. "Slavery will remain for a long time as the national characteristic of Brazil," he affirmed.