DOM PEDRO II : THE GREEN EMPEROR
Today in Brazil, the head of state does not pose as a defender of the environment.
However, it was not always like this and the country was governed in the past by an enlightened sovereign who made environmental protection one of his priorities at a time when people were not yet concerned about these issues.
A LONG REIGN
In 1822, the Kingdom of Brazil proclaimed its independence from Portugal in the form of an Empire founded by the Braganza dynasty, driven from Lisbon by Napoleonic troops and established since 1808 in Rio de Janeiro.
In 1840, at the age of 15, Pedro II came to power after his father, the first emperor of Brazil, was forced to return to Portugal.
He would reign over Brazil until 1889, a period so long that he became identified with half a century of national history.
AN ENLIGHTENED SOVEREIGN
This political stability, unique in South America, increases the prestige of the Empire. The Emperor himself was an intelligent and cultured man; he was in love with Europe and will never stop modernizing the country and changing the traditional socio-economic order of society, dominated until then by the Church and conservative elites.
In particular, Pedro II campaigned for the abolition of slavery, because if there was one stain he could not stand in the customs of Brazil, it was slavery! Pedro would do everything to eliminate what he would call the "shame of the Empire" and this would earn him the hatred of the large planters.
A HUMANIST
A modern emperor, a humanist but also shy and discreet, Pedro II escaped from time to time to meet the men he admired: Victor Hugo or Louis Pasteur who would become his friends. With a curious and open mind, he always believed in the virtues of progress through education.
Taking advantage of his travels in Europe, the army overthrew him in 1889 and proclaimed the Republic without encountering any resistance. The elites no longer needed the Empire but the popular masses would long remain nostalgic for the monarch.
In love with France, Pedro II died in exile in Paris.
A PRECURSOR OF ECOLOGY
Pedro II gradually developed an ecological awareness at a time when environmental preservation was not a social issue.
This led him to act to restore the biodiversity of Rio de Janeiro's forest: the Tijuca Forest, devastated by coffee plantations, thus restoring the water supply to the capital of the Empire.
He continued his ecological work in Petrópolis, his summer residence, because the "imperial city" was struck by the same ills as Rio de Janeiro.
The TIJUCA brand pays homage to Emperor Pedro II and what he left to future generations.