Luís Pinto de Sousa Coutinho, 1st Viscount of Balsemão

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His Lordship
The Viscount of Balsemão
GCA
Secretary of State
for the Internal Affairs of the Kingdom
In office
6 January 1801 – 14 April 1804
MonarchPrince Regent John
Preceded byJosé de Seabra da Silva
Succeeded byThe Count of Vila Verde
Secretary of State
for Foreign Affairs and War
In office
15 December 1788 – 6 January 1801
MonarchMaria I of Portugal
Preceded byViscount Vila Nova de Cerveira
Succeeded byRodrigo de Sousa Coutinho (as Secretary of Foreign Affairs)
António de Araújo e Azevedo (as Secretary of War)
Portuguese Minister to Great Britain
In office
8 July 1774 – 5 September 1788
MonarchJoseph I of Portugal
Preceded byJoão Filipe da Fonseca
Succeeded byCipriano Ribeiro Pereira
Captain-General of Mato Grosso
In office
3 January 1769 – 13 December 1772
MonarchJoseph I of Portugal
Preceded byJoão Pedro da Câmara
Succeeded byLuís de Albuquerque de Melo Pereira e Cáceres
Personal details
Born(1735-11-27)27 November 1735
Leomil, Moimenta da Beira, Portugal
Died14 April 1804(1804-04-14) (aged 68)
Belém, Lisbon, Portugal
SpouseCatarina Micaela de Sousa César de Lencastre
OccupationPolitician
Signature

D. Luís Pinto de Sousa Coutinho, 1st Viscount of Balsemão (27 November 1735 – 14 April 1804), was a Portuguese nobleman, politician, colonial administrator, and diplomat.

The first of many government posts, Sousa Coutinho was chosen to serve as Captain-General of Mato Grosso, in Brazil, from 1769 until he was forced to resign in 1772 due to having contracted a severe ophthalmia.[1]

Luís Pinto de Sousa Coutinho was the Portuguese envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary in Great Britain from 1774 to 1788, from which he accompanied important events such as the American Revolutionary War, and negotiated Portugal's entry into the First League of Armed Neutrality.[2] He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1787.[3]

Balsemão wrote the 1778 manuscript, Extrait des Notes fournies à Mr l’Abbé Raynal, which describes colonial administration in Brazil and offers a vision of state building. In a 1780 version of the manuscript, Balsemão defended what he said was the benign nature of slavery in Brazil.[4]

He was made Viscount of Balsemão by Prince Regent John by decree of 14 August 1801, after having occupied several government posts.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b Torres, João Romano. "Balsemão (Luís Pinto de Sousa Coutinho, 1.° visconde de)". Portugal – Dicionário Histórico, Corográfico, Heráldico, Biográfico, Bibliográfico, Numismático e Artístico, Volume IV. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  2. ^ Costa, Júlio Manuel Rodrigues (2012). "Alguns livros científicos (sécs. XVI e XVII) no "Inventário" da Livraria dos Viscondes de Balsemão" [Some Scientific Books (16th‐17th Centuries) in the "Inventory" of the Library of the Viscounts of Balsemão]. Ágora. Estudos Clássicos em Debate (in Portuguese). 14 (1): 131‐158. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  3. ^ "Fellows of the Royal Society", Royal Society. "Fellowship from 1660 onwards" (xlsx file on Google Docs via the Royal Society)
  4. ^ Cardim, Pedro; Monteiro, Nuno Goncalo, eds. (2021). Political Thought in Portugal and its Empire, c.1500–1800. Cambridge University Press. p. 28. doi:10.1017/9781108289634. ISBN 978-1-108-41827-0. S2CID 240936106.
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