Honorio Hermeto Carneiro Leao (11 January 1801-3 September 1856) was Prime Minister of Brazil from 6 September 1853 to 3 September 1856, succeeding Joaquim Rodrigues Torres and preceding Luis Alves de Lima e Silva.
Biography[]
Honorio Hermeto Carneiro Leao was born in Sao Carlos do Jacui, Minas Gerais, Brazil in 1801, and he became a judge in 1826 and a Conservative deputy for Minas Gerais from 1830 to 1841. He co-founded the Conservative Party in 1837 (having previously been a liberal from 1830 to 1831), defending constitutional order and enabling the country to move past several political crises and rebellions without becoming a dictatorship. In 1842, he suppressed Liberal Party-led rebellions, and he was appointed a Senator. In 1851, he was sent to Uruguay to forge an alliance with the country, and he was made a noble after Brazil's victory over Argentina in the Platine War. Carneiro Leao went on to serve as Prime Minister from 1853 to 1856, alienating much of his party over his support for electoral reform. He died of hepatitis in 1856 at the age of 55.