Background
Oswaldo Arahna was born on February 15, 1894 in Alegrete, State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. He was a son of Euclydes Egydio de Souza Aranha and Luisa de Freitas-Valle Aranha.
Grave of Osvaldo Aranha in Rio de Janeiro
Osvaldo Aranha. 13 year old. The photo was made on the familly estate in Itaqui.
Oswaldo Arahna was born on February 15, 1894 in Alegrete, State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. He was a son of Euclydes Egydio de Souza Aranha and Luisa de Freitas-Valle Aranha.
At the age of 13 Osvaldo entered the Military Academy of Rio de Janeiro. In 1916 obtained his bachelor degree in Law and Social Sciences through the Law School of now-called Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Faculdade de Direito do Rio de Janeiro). During 6 months he studied International Law in Sorbonne University in Paris. When the First World War had begun in 1914, he returned back home and started his political career.
During the 1920s Aranha served his apprenticeship in politics as mayor of the town of Alegrete, and he was wounded fighting in defense of the state regime during a revolt in 1926. In 1927 he was elected a member of the state legislature, and in 1928 he became a member of the Federal Chamber of Deputies.
When Getulio Vargas became governor of Rio Grande do Sul in 1929, he chose Aranha to head his Cabinet as secretary of justice.
Vargas ran as opposition candidate for president of Brazil in 1930, and when he took a leave of absence from the governorship during the campaign, Aranha served as acting governor. After Vargas lost to the government of Washington Luiz, Aranha joined with the Tenentes in urging Vargas to go along with efforts to organize a revolt.
With the installation of President Vargas, Aranha became minister of justice, a post he held until his transfer to the Ministry of Finance in December 1931. In 1934 President Vargas named Aranha ambassador to Washington, D.C. There he worked out a program for resumption of payment on Brazil's foreign debt, which had been in default for 4 years. When President Vargas led a coup d'etat to establish a semifascist regime in November 1937, Aranha resigned his Washington post in protest. However, in March 1938 Vargas convinced him to enter the government once again, this time as minister of foreign affairs. He continued in this post until 1944.
Aranha was a major force working for alignment of Brazil with the Allies in World War II. Once Brazil had entered the war on the Allied side in 1942, Aranha sought to stimulate popular support for Brazilian participation. To this end, he became vice president of the Society of the Friends of America. When the police refused to allow the society to function, Aranha resigned from the government in August 1944.
At this point Aranha broke with Vargas and became one of the organizers of the antigovernment party, the Union Democratica Nacional (UDN). The pressure of the UDN helped force Vargas to call elections for December 1945, but Vargas was overthrown before that date.
During the administration of Vargas's successor, President Eurico Dutra, Aranha returned to diplomacy. He served as ambassador to the United Nations, and in 1947-1948 was president of the UN General Assembly.
With the return of Vargas to the presidency at the end of 1950, peace was made between Vargas and Aranha. Aranha was named minister of finance in 1953, and it was reported that he though this a step toward his candidacy for president. However, President Vargas committed suicide in August 1954, and Aranha immediately resigned from the Cabinet. Aranha did not return to public office but held the status of an "elder statesman" until his death on January 27, 1960.
Quotations:
"Senate is a desert of people and ideas".- Osvaldo Aranha
"To live is the best and the most beautiful form to die".-Osvaldo Aranha
"The life of diplomat is either devotion or vulgarity ".-Osvaldo Aranha
"Spiritual disarmament is a basis for future nations".- Osvaldo Aranha
"Fear of truth is the most cowardly fear".-Osvaldo Aranha
"All life should be the expression of idea."-Osvaldo Aranha
"People and nations are reflection of their deeds and ideas ".-Osvaldo Aranha
"We want our governors have the program of people but not people have the program of governors".-Osvaldo Aranha
Osvaldo Aranha was married to Delminda Benvinda Gudolle.