Silvino Gurgel do Amaral

Silvino Gurgel do Amaral entered diplomacy in 1896 and served in Russia, Spain, Uruguay, Britain, and Argentina before joining Joaquim Nabuco’s Washington embassy in 1905. He acted as head of mission during Nabuco’s absences in 1906 and 1907. Later assignments included Paraguay, the Netherlands, and Germany; after the 1917 rupture with Germany, he served in Bern and then Lima. ^{1, 2}

Promoted to ambassador in Chile in 1922, Amaral participated in the inter-American conference held in Santiago the following year. He returned to Washington as ambassador in 1925 and represented Brazil at the 1928 conciliation and arbitration conference. His final foreign posting was Tokyo, from which he retired in 1934. ¹

Amaral also wrote a substantial study of the Dutch jurist Hugo Grotius, published in 1903. His biographical essay treated Grotius’s life together with the political and legal world in which he worked. Amaral continued visiting Itamaraty after retirement. He died in Rio on 13 January 1961. ²