Luiz of Orléans-Braganza
Luiz Gastão of Braganza | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Prince Imperial of Brazil | |||||
File:Prince Luiz of Orléans and Bragança, Prince and Head of the Imperial House of Brazil.png | |||||
Head of the Imperial House of Brazil (disputed) | |||||
Tenure | 5 July 1981 – 15 July 2022 | ||||
Predecessor | Pedro Henrique | ||||
Successor | Bertrand | ||||
Born | Mandelieu-la-Napoule, France | 6 June 1938||||
Died | 15 July 2022 São Paulo, Brazil | (aged 84)||||
| |||||
House | Orléans-Braganza | ||||
Father | Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza | ||||
Mother | Princess Maria Elisabeth of Bavaria | ||||
Religion | Roman Catholic |
Luiz Gastão of Braganza (6 June 1938 – 15 July 2022) was the head of the Vassouras branch of the House of Orléans-Braganza and a claimant to the defunct Brazilian throne. The Vassouras branch claims the throne in opposition to the Petrópolis branch of the Orléans-Braganzas, headed by Pedro Carlos Orléans-Braganza. Although Luiz and Pedro Carlos respectively were and are great-grandchildren of Princess Isabel (daughter of Emperor D. Pedro II), of the House of Braganza, they disputed leadership over the Brazilian Imperial Family due to a dynastic dispute concerning their fathers, who were cousins.
Luiz actively claimed the defunct throne and participated in matters concerning Brazil's imperial past.
Early life
Luiz Gastão Maria José Pio[1] was born on 6 June 1938 in Mandelieu-la-Napoule, France, as the oldest son of Prince Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza, the Vassouras great-grandson of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil, and his wife, Princess Maria Elisabeth of Bavaria, granddaughter of King Ludwig III of Bavaria.
Although Prince Luiz was born after the revocation of the exile that had been imposed on the Imperial family by Brazil's first Republican government, the aftermath of World War I and World War II detained the entire family in Europe until 1945, when the Vassouras branch of the family was finally repatriated, settling first in the town of Petrópolis (Rio de Janeiro), then to Jacarezinho (Paraná).
In 1957, Luiz returned to Europe to finish his studies, where he graduated in chemistry at the University of Munich.[2] Returning to Brazil in 1967, his family having already moved to Vassouras (Rio de Janeiro), Prince Luiz became a member of the Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property,[3] a traditionalist Catholic organization which opposes socialistic land reform and supports conservative politics based on Catholic social doctrine and the principles promoted by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira. Alongside Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza, his Portuguese counterpart and second cousin, he opposed same-sex marital unions, as of a 2015 declaration.[4]
Succession
On 1981, he succeeded Prince Pedro Henrique as the claimant to the Brazilian throne in the Vassouras branch. According to Brazilian legitimist claims, he was de jure Emperor of Brazil ("Dom Luiz I of Brazil").[5]
He and two of his younger brothers, Prince Bertrand and Prince Antônio, engaged in monarchist proselytism in Brazil. They played major roles during the campaign for the 1993 plebiscite, which represented the first official opportunity for a return of the monarchy to Brazil since the Proclamation of the Republic in 1889. In it, the people were asked to choose which form of government, presidential or parliamentary, and which form of state organization, republic or constitutional monarchy, Brazil should have. The monarchist cause was not successful, receiving 13.2% of the vote against 66% for the republic.[6]
Dom Luiz resided in a house with "no luxury nor splendor" in Higienópolis, a borough of São Paulo, Brazil.[7]
Death
Luiz died in São Paulo on July 14, 2022 having been hospitalized for a month. He was succeeded by his brother Bertrand.[8]
On July 15, 2022, the President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro and the Minister of External Relations signed a decree declaring a period of one day of official mourning for the death of Luiz. The decree further referred to Luiz as head of the Imperial House of Brazil.[9]
Honours
As Head of the House of Orléans-Braganza, Luiz Gastão held the following positions:[10]
- Grand Master and Sovereign of the Imperial Order of Christ
- Grand Master and Sovereign of the Imperial Order of Saint Benedict of Aviz
- Grand Master and Sovereign of the Imperial Order of Saint James of the Sword
- Grand Master and Sovereign of the Imperial Order of the Southern Cross
- Grand Master and Sovereign of the Imperial Order of Emperor Pedro I
- Grand Master and Sovereign of the Imperial Order of the Rose
Luiz has also been decorated with a number of other honours:[10]
- Bailiff Grand Cross of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George
- Grand Cross of the Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa
- Bailiff Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta
- Knight of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre[11]
- Medal of Honor (Special Class) of the Association of Monarchic Autarchs of Portugal[12]
Ancestry
Ancestors of Luiz of Orléans-Braganza | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
References
- ^ Casa Imperial do Brasil – Biografia de D. Luiz de Orleans e Bragança Archived 23 May 2017 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ CUNHA, Dionatan da Silveira (2011) (in Portuguese). Príncipe D. Luiz de Orleans e Bragança: 30 Anos de ascensão a Chefia da Casa Imperial do Brasil. Causa Imperial Archived 5 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ Prince Bertrand of Orleans-Braganza Visits America. TFP.org Archived 15 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine, 30 April 2001.
- ^ "Personalidades que firmaron".
- ^ NÉMETH-TORRES, Geovani (2008) (in Portuguese). A odisséia monarquista no Plebiscito Nacional de 1993. In: Veredas da História, 1(1). ISSN 1982-4238.
- ^ Justiça Eleitoral. Resultado Geral do Plebiscito de 1993.
- ^ SOARES, Regiane (2008) (in Portuguese). Príncipe imperial vive "sem luxo nem esplendor" em casa alugada em SP. Folha Online, 4 March 2008.
- ^ "Morre dom Luiz de Orleans e Bragança, bisneto da Princesa Isabel".
- ^ "D11134".
- ^ a b Pró-Monarquia. (2022). Anuário da Casa Imperial do Brasil. São Paulo: Pró-Monarquia, 25.
- ^ MARIE, Michelle (2012) (in Portuguese). Cavaleiros na Ordem Eqüestre do Santo Sepulcro de Jerusalém[permanent dead link].
- ^ "Autarcas Monárquicos de Portugal". 13 April 2018. Archived from the original on 17 February 2022. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
External links
- 1938 births
- 2022 deaths
- People from Alpes-Maritimes
- Brazilian people of Portuguese descent
- Brazilian monarchists
- Brazilian traditionalist Catholics
- Pretenders to the Brazilian throne
- House of Orléans-Braganza
- Princes Imperial of Brazil
- Heads of the Imperial House of Brazil
- Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni
- Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa
- Bailiffs Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta
- Knights of the Holy Sepulchre