Bernardo de Sá Nogueira de Figueiredo, 1st Marquess de Sá da Bandeira (26 September 1795 – 6 January 1876) was a Portuguese nobleman and politician. He served as Prime Minister of Portugal for five times. He was the most prominent Portuguese defender of the abolition of slavery in Portugal and its domains, while also defending a modernized and expanded colonial empire.Governo de José Jorge Loureiro (1835–1836), politipedia.pt
Life
Sá Nogueira de Figueiredo was born in Santarém in 1795 to Faustino José Lopes Nogueira de Figueiredo e Silva (1767–1830) and Francisca Xavier de Sá Mendonça Cabral da Cunha Godinho (1772–1829). Sá Nogueira de Figueiredo supported the liberal party during the Liberal Wars (1828–1834), and took part in the landing at Mindelo in July 1832. He fought in the Siege of Porto and was wounded in his right arm, which had to be amputated.
Sá da Bandeira was Minister of the Navy in the government of José Jorge Loureiro (1835–36). He was Prime Minister of Portugal for five terms: 5 November 1836 – 1 June 1837Governo de Sá da Bandeira (1836–1837), politipedia.pt 10 August 1837 – 18 April 1839Governo de Sá da Bandeira (1837–1839), politipedia.pt 17 April 1865 – 5 September 1865Governos da Monarquia Liberal, politipedia.pt 22 July 1868 – 11 August 1869Governo de Sá da Bandeira (1868–1869), politipedia.pt 29 August – 29 October 1870Governo de Sá da Bandeira (1870), politipedia.pt
He never married but he had a legitimised daughter born out of wedlock, named Luísa Aglaé Fanny de Sá Nogueira, who married her cousin Faustino de Paiva de Sá Nogueira. The city of Lubango, Angola, was called Sá de Bandeira under Portuguese rule.
On 4 April 1833, he was created Baron of Sá da Bandeira, on 1 December 1834, he was created and on 3 February 1864, he was created . He was also a freemason.
Views on colonial politics Sá da Bandeira advocated for a liberal model of Portuguese colonialism. His programme included the abolition of slavery (formally enacted in Portuguese territories in 1878), alongside military expansionism to acquire more effective control of the colonies.
He argued that Angola and the other African territories had to become a "new Brazil" to offset the loss of Brazil, following the former colony's independence in 1822. This involved the modernization of their economies and their reorientation toward extractivism, notably through mining and plantation-based agriculture, underpinned by planned Portuguese immigration and free labour.
See also Belenzada Rossio massacre
References