Filinto Müller

Filinto Müller
Müller in 1959
Senator of Mato Grosso
In office 1947–1951
In office 1955–1973
Personal details
Born	11 July 1900 Cuiabá
Died	11 July 1973 Paris
Political party	ARENA
Spouse	Consuelo Müller

Filinto Müller (11 July 1900 – 11 July 1973) was a military-associated Brazilian politician, and President of the Senate for the state of Mato Grosso and Chief of Distrito Federal police during the government of Getúlio Vargas (1933–1942).

Nazi sympathies

Filinto Strübing Müller was born in Cuiabá, Brazil in 1900. At the age of 19, he joined the Army. He later participated in the Tenente revolts. He was a close collaborator of Vargas since his rise to power in 1930.

Filinto Müller with Getúlio Vargas in 1938

Before and during World War II, he was sympathetic to Nazi Germany, which he visited in 1937 at the invitation of Heinrich Himmler. Also, he was one of the architects of the Estado Novo, which was characterized by the usage of large-scale torture (it is reported that sometimes he personally participated in torture sessions) and summary executions against political opponents (mostly communists). He was dismissed from his post when Vargas switched sides, approaching Brazil to the Allies against Adolf Hitler.

Senator

In 1945 he was one of the founders of the pro-Vargas Social Democracy Party. In 1947 he was elected Senator for the state of Mato Grosso. In 1950 he stood for the post of governor of the same state, but was defeated. He was reelected as senator in 1955 and 1962. In the Senate, he was a supporter of the Kubitschek government. After the military coup of 1964, he joined the pro-regime party ARENA, and soon became its leader. He was reelected Senator in 1970. In 1973 he became President of the Senate.

Death

He died on Varig Flight 820 in France while in office in 1973, on his 73rd birthday. The plane caught on fire, causing it to crash. After his death he was honored as a national hero. Filinto has since been honored publicly by several officials and intellectuals, among them Juscelino Kubitschek and Ulysses Guimarães. On the same flight were his wife, Consuelo, and his grandson, Pedro, who was only sixteen at the time.

Personal life

Müller was married to Basque Consuelo de la Lastra, and they had two biological daughters: Maria Luiza Müller de Almeida (named after Consuelo's older sister, María Luísa de la Lastra), and Rita Julia Lastra Müller. Together, they adopted de la Lastra's niece, Argentinian-born Basque María Luísa Beatriz del Rio Lastra. Müller is the adoptive great-grandfather of Brazilian-born British writer/musician Beatriz del Rio.

External links

• (in Portuguese) Filinto Müller Biography at CPDOC FGV