José Gurgel do Amaral Valente

José Gurgel do Amaral Valente was born in Aracati, Ceará. He entered the diplomatic service in January 1869 as an attaché in Bolivia, then moved through Paraguay and Uruguay. In the 1870s he repeatedly took charge of missions during senior officers’ absences. He headed the Venezuelan mission from 1877 to 1881 before becoming a secretary in Washington, where he also served as acting head. ²

Valente became minister resident in Bolivia in 1885 and was promoted to minister plenipotentiary in Washington in January 1889. That July he was selected for the special mission to negotiate a commercial treaty and represent Brazil at the International American Conference. After the overthrow of the Brazilian monarchy, he continued dealing with the United States on behalf of the new government. In November he conveyed assurances concerning the change of regime and the confirmation of his own and Salvador de Mendonça’s powers, while noting that Lafayette Rodrigues Pereira had declined renewed authority. ^{3, 1}

He was transferred to Austria-Hungary in December 1890. In May 1893 the Brazilian Senate considered his nomination, together with the Baron of Ladário, for a special embassy to China. He died in Vienna on 3 June 1893 while serving as Brazil’s minister there. ^{2, 3, 4}