Luiz Augusto de Pádua Fleury

Luiz Augusto de Pádua Fleury was born in Goiás in 1835 into a family active in provincial politics. He began military training as a teenager, traveled to Europe after illness, and entered diplomatic service in 1861. Early assignments took him to France and Britain. He then spent several years at the Washington legation, serving under Gonçalves de Magalhães and at times taking temporary charge. ¹

Transferred to Buenos Aires in the 1870s, Fleury became involved in the difficult settlement following the Paraguayan War. Argentine negotiator Carlos Tejedor's published account of his 1875 mission to Rio describes discussions with Fleury before departure. Tejedor said that he explained the proposed negotiating terms and that Fleury showed him a letter from Viscount Caravellas concerning Cerrito Island. ²

During a longer period of charge in Buenos Aires in 1875–1876, Fleury administered the mission and reported on Argentine politics and treaty business. Historian Gabriel Passetti's study of his correspondence emphasizes the limits imposed by the diplomatic hierarchy: Fleury remained subordinate to Francisco Xavier da Costa Aguiar de Andrada, the plenipotentiary handling the peace negotiations. Fleury later served in Paraguay and died in Asunción in September 1884. ¹