Octávio do Nascimento Brito

Octávio do Nascimento Brito combined diplomatic service with work on international law and government publications. Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1888, he qualified in law in 1909 and belonged to the Brazilian Society of International Law. He edited the Foreign Ministry’s bulletin from 1919 to 1929, then became a second secretary and served briefly in Asunción before returning to the ministry. ¹

Brito worked on inter-American legal conferences and codification. He was secretary to the 1927 International Commission of Jurists, served with Brazil’s delegation at the 1928 Havana conference, and later worked on a commission drafting an international convention on literary and artistic rights. Promoted to first secretary in 1938, he went to Porto in 1939. ¹

At the 1945 San Francisco conference, Brito defended the aim of a universal United Nations during discussion of the General Assembly’s composition. He explained that Brazil’s suggestion was an aspiration for the new organization, while acknowledging that worldwide membership was impracticable as war continued. Australian and Belgian representatives supported the principle; Brito did not press for a decision in a committee whose remit excluded that question. ³

His Washington service included periods as acting head of the embassy before Maurício Nabuco’s arrival. He also discussed arms and Argentina with U.S. officials in a conversation reported to Ambassador William Pawley in December 1946. Pawley asked whether Brazil’s government had instructed him to raise the subject. ^{2, 4}