João Pinheiro Chagas was a Portuguese

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 journalist and politician. He was born in Brazil, from Portuguese parents who soon moved back to Portugal. He was an editor at the newspapers "O Primeiro de Janeiro", "Correio do Norte", "O Tempo" and "O Dia". After becoming a republican

Republicanism

Republicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, where the head of state is appointed by means other than heredity, often elections. The exact meaning of republicanism varies depending on the cultural and historical context...

, he also founded the "República Portuguesa" and was the director of "O País" (1898).

Fierce republican

The monarchist government's reaction to the British ultimatum

British Ultimatum

The 1890 British Ultimatum was an ultimatum by the British government delivered on 11 January 1890 to Portugal in breach of the Treaty of Windsor of 1386...

 of January 1890 that forced Portugal to renounce its extravagant claims to the territories that lay between Angola

Angola

Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...

 and Mozambique

Mozambique

Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...

, made him a fierce republican and one of Portugal's most fervent anti-monarchy journalist

Journalist

A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...

s and propagandists.

Political career

After the proclamation of the republic, on 5 October 1910, he was appointed minister in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, and, the following year, after the end of the term of the provisional government, he was chosen to lead the first constitutional government of the Portuguese First Republic

Portuguese First Republic

The Portuguese First Republic spans a complex 16 year period in the history of Portugal, between the end of the period of constitutional monarchy marked by the 5 October 1910 revolution and the 28 May coup d'état of 1926...

. That government was in power for only two months, from 4 September to 13 November 1911. This was a sad prelude to the political instability of the First Republic. On 17 May 1915, he was appointed again President of the Ministry (Prime Minister), but he didn't take office. He remained a diplomat until his retirement in 1923.