Prince Luís of Orléans-Braganza (26 January 1878 – 26 March 1920), nicknamed "the Perfect Prince", was the second son of Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil and Prince Gaston, Count of Eu, and patriarch of the Vassouras branch of the House of Orléans-Braganza. His maternal grandfather, Pedro II of Brazil, was the last emperor of Brazil. After being declared successor to the title of Head of the Imperial House of Brazil by his brother Pedro de Alcântara, Prince of Grão-Pará, following the latter's abdication to get married, Luiz ended up dying before his mother, Isabel, in 1920.
He was exiled along with his family as the result of the 1889 coup d'état that resulted in the formation of the republic. In 1908, the year he married, his older brother Pedro renounced his claim to succeed his mother in her claim to the imperial throne, leaving Dom Luís as her heir. In this role, he worked with monarchists in Brazil in several attempts to restore the monarchy. At the outbreak of World War I, he enlisted as an officer with the British Armed Forces and saw action in Flanders where he contracted a virulent form of rheumatism that caused his death at the age of 42. His efforts on behalf of the Allies of World War I saw him decorated by Belgium, France and Great Britain.
Childhood Luís was born at Petrópolis on 26 January 1878, to Prince Gaston d'Orléans, Count of Eu, and Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil. His maternal grandparents were Pedro II, Emperor of Brazil, and Princess Teresa Cristina of the Two Sicilies while his paternal grandparents were Prince Louis, Duke of Nemours, and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He was named after his paternal grandfather. His name in full was Luís Maria Filipe Pedro de Alcântara Gastão Miguel Rafael Gonzaga. As the second oldest son of the heiress to the imperial throne of Brazil, he was not expected to one day ascend to the throne.Barman, Roderick J., Princesa Isabel do Brasil: gênero e poder no século XIX, UNESP, 2005
From a young age he demonstrated a strong and determined personality. While on a trip to Europe with his family, an earthquake occurred on 23 February 1887, and while his older brother Pedro appeared very nervous and cried, Luís simply stood calm and showed no emotions. The differences between him and his oldest brother were well known. His father wrote in a letter dated February 1889 that Pedro was "just as incapable and careless in this [playing pool with Pedro II] as in everything else." Although Pedro was gentle and likeable, he did not like to study and was often clumsy, while Luís had a strong will, was active and apparently intelligent.
Gaston affirmed in another letter, written in March 1890, that "Baby Pedro [was] always notable for laziness and ineptness," while "Luís does the identical course work all by himself with admirable distinction and capacity." The prince very early showed the interest in literature that would result in his authorship of several books about his travels around the world, such as Dans les Alps, Tour d´Afrique, Where four empires meet and Under the Southern Cross.BR História, nº 4, Year 1, Duetto, 2007
Luís was always impelled to action thanks to his restless spirit that would take him in his childhood to sports and as an adult to politics. At the height of the campaign for the abolition of slavery in Brazil, he and his brothers published a newspaper in favor of abolitionism in the palace of Petrópolis.Carvalho, José Murilo de, D. Pedro II, Companhia das Letras, 2007, p. 188 When the coup that replaced the monarchy with the republic occurred on 15 November 1889, Isabel preferred to send her children to Petrópolis, where later Luís would remember that "locked up in the palace, they had left us during two long days in the most complete ignorance of what was happening out there" until they were sent back to their parents and then left for forced exile. As they had not been able to take anything with them, except for a few personal objects that they could carry with their hands, the imperial family saw itself in a poor financial situation that was only made worse by Pedro II's refusal to accept the five thousand contos of Réis offered initially by the new republican government. In December 1889, the government stopped the family's income from Brazil. They had no alternative but to accept help from their few friends and from Gaston's father.
In 1890, fifteen-year-old Pedro, thirteen-year-old Luís, and their younger brother Antônio (nicknamed "Totó"), moved along with their parents to the outskirts of Versailles. After the death of Pedro II in 1891 the monarchists made various efforts to restore the monarchy in Brazil. However, none of the imperial family provided any kind of aid or even words of explicit support. Luís's older brother, Pedro, reached the age of majority in 1893, but he had no capacity or desire to assume the monarchist cause. In the same year he left for Vienna, capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, to study in the military school at Wiener Neustadt. According to his own mother it was "clear that he must do something and a military career seems to us the only one he should follow". Luís and his brother Antônio followed their older brother at the same military school.
Adulthood
By 1896, Pedro was in love with Austro-Hungarian noblewoman Elisabeth "Elsi" Dobržensky. Meanwhile, Luís was ambitious and active, eager to make his mark on the world. He was a mountaineer, and climbed Mont Blanc in September 1896. He traveled to southern Africa, central Asia and India, and later wrote and published travelogues of his experiences. Luís was seen by his parents as the only member of the Imperial family capable of helping the monarchist movement in Brazil.
After he returned to France in 1907 he planned an ambitious project to defy the decree banishing the imperial family from Brazil by travelling to Rio de Janeiro. His sudden arrival, widely discussed in newspapers, created an uproar in the old imperial capital. It also caused difficulties for Brazilian politicians by placing the imperial family at the center of attention and many Brazilians went to welcome him. However, Luís was prevented from disembarking and was not allowed to set foot on his native land by the republican government. Nonetheless, he sent his mother a telegram saying: "Hindered of disembarking by the Government, I greet the Redeemer of Slaves on the bay of Guanabara in the eve of May 13." Some time later he wrote about his experiences on this trip in the book Under the Southern Cross (Sob o cruzeiro do sul) published in 1913.
Luís became engaged to his cousin Maria Pia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, a granddaughter of a brother of Luís's maternal grandmother, Teresa Cristina. Meanwhile, his brother Pedro, then the heir to Isabel, desired to marry Elizabeth Dobržensky. His mother disapproved of the marriage because Elizabeth was part of the minor nobility rather than royalty. Isabel agreed to accept the marriage with the condition that Pedro would renounce his position as heir. Pedro had no interest in becoming emperor and so he renounced his rights to the succession on 30 October 1908.Vianna, Hélio. Vultos do Império. São Paulo: Companhia Editoria Nacional, 1968, p.224Freyre, Gilberto. Ordem e Progresso. Rio de Janeiro: José Olympio, 1959, p.517 and 591Lyra, Heitor. História de Dom Pedro II – 1825–1891. São Paulo: Companhia Editora Nacional, 1940, vol. III, p.300Enciclopaedia Barsa, vol. IV, article "Braganza", p.210, 1992Janotti, Maria de Lourdes. Os Subversivos da República. São Paulo: Brasiliense, 1986, p.255-7Malatian, Teresa Maria. A Ação Imperial Patrianovista Brasileira. São Paulo, 1978, p.153-9
I Prince Pedro de Alcântara Luís Filipe Maria Gastão Miguel Gabriel Rafael Gonzaga of Orléans and Braganza, having maturely reflected, have resolved to renounce the right that, by the Constitution of the Empire of Brazil, promulgated on March 25, 1824, accords to me the Crown of that nation. I declare, therefore, that by my free and spontaneous will I hereby renounce, in my own name, as well as for any and all of my descendants, to all and any rights that the aforesaid Constitution confers upon us to the Brazilian Crown and Throne, which shall pass to the lines which follow mine, conforming to the order of succession as established by article 117. Before God I promise, for myself and my descendants, to hold to the present declaration.Cannes October 30, 1908 signed: Pedro de Alcântara of Orléans-Braganza
This renunciation was followed by a letter from Isabel to royalists in Brazil:November 9, 1908, [Castle of] EuMost Excellent Gentlemen Members of the Monarchist Directory,With all my heart I thank you for the congratulations upon the marriages of my dear children Pedro and Luís. Luís' took place in Cannes on day 4 with the brilliance that is desired for so solemn an act in the life of my successor to the Throne of Brazil. I was very pleased. Pedro's shall take place next on day 14. Before the marriage of Luís he signed his resignation to the crown of Brazil, and here I send it to you, while keeping here an identical copy. I believe that this news must be published as soon as possible (you gentlemen shall do it in the way that you judge to be more satisfactory) in order to prevent the formation of parties that would be a great evil for our country. Pedro will continue to love his homeland, and will give all possible support to his brother. Thank God they are very united. Luís will engage actively in everything with respect to the monarchy and any good for our land. However, without giving up my rights I want that he be up to date on everything so that he may prepare himself for the position which with all my heart I desire that one day he will hold. You may write to him as many times as you may want to so that he shall be informed of everything. My strength is not the same as it once was, but my heart is still the same to love my homeland and all those who are so dedicated to us. I give you all my friendship and confidence,
The marriage of Luís and Maria Pia was celebrated on 4 November at Cannes, and that of Pedro and Elizabeth ten days later at Versailles. From the union of Luís and Maria Pia three children were born: Pedro Henrique, who became the direct successor to Princess Isabel and Head of the Imperial House of Brazil after her death in 1921; Luís Gastão, and Pia Maria. Isabel did not take long to reveal her opinion about her grandchildren and wrote in a letter in 1914: "I am sending enclosed a photograph of myself with my grandchildren by Luís. Pedro Henrique is growing continually and is a very intelligent child. His grandparents have a particular love for their darling little grandchildren."
Political activity With the renunciation of the throne by his brother, Luís could finally collaborate effectively with the Brazilian monarchic movement, assuming clearly his position as heir to the throne (after his mother) and trying to assume the leadership of the restoration campaign.Lima, Manuel de Oliveira. O Império brasileiro. São Paulo: USP, 1989, pp. 70–71 His efforts to reverse the damage caused by the imperial family's inertia was valued by their supporters, and in 1909 he presented a political manifest to the Brazilian monarchists with the intent to restart the stalled campaign. He had some success as he was able to congregate coreligionists in several states of Brazil. Some of the letters from the prince reveal his plans to restore the monarchy, such as the one written for Martim Francisco de Andrada III:MARTINS, Luís. O patriarca e o bacharel. 2.ed. São Paulo: Alameda, 2008, p.148
"it costs me so much to be here with crossed arms, when I think that a handful of determined men would be enough to pull out our Fatherland from the claws of the adventurers who explore it".