Augusto Leverger, Baron of Melgaço

Augusto João Manuel Leverger, Baron of Melgaço (30 January 1802 — 14 January 1880), nicknamed "Cuiabá's Breton", was a French-born Brazilian admiral, writer, historian, geographer and several times president of the province of Mato Grosso in the Empire of Brazil. He was a key figure of Mato Grosso's literary production during his time.

Augusto Leverger
President of Mato Grosso
In office 11 February 1851 – 1 April 1857
Preceded by	João da Costa Pimentel
Succeeded by	Albano de Sousa Osório
In office 12 May 1863 – 15 July 1863
Preceded by	Herculano Ferreira Penna
Succeeded by	Albano de Sousa Osório
In office 9 August 1865 – 1 May 1866
Preceded by	Alexandre Albino de Carvalho
Succeeded by	Albano de Sousa Osório
In office 26 May 1869 – 10 February 1870
Preceded by	José Antônio Murtinho
Succeeded by	Luís da Silva Prado
Personal details
Born	(1802-01-30)30 January 1802 Saint-Malo, France
Died	14 January 1880(1880-01-14) (aged 77) Cuiabá, Brazil
Resting place	Piedade Cemitery, Cuiabá
Political party	Conservative
Awards	Commander of the Order of Aviz Officer of the Order of the Rose Knight of the Order of the Southern Cross
Nickname	Cuiabá's Breton
Military service
Allegiance	Empire of Brazil
Branch/service	Imperial Brazilian Navy
Years of service	1825–1857
Rank	Fleet Admiral
Commands	General do Rêgo
Battles/wars	Cisplatine War Triple Alliance War Invasion of Corumbá

Biography

The surrender of the Argentine corvette General Dorrego, by Edoardo De Martino

Leverger was born to Mathurin Michel Leverger and Regina Corbes in Saint-Malo in Brittany on 30 January 1802. According to his biography, written by Virgílio Correia Filho, he was a seaman since he was very young, having arrived in Brazil in 1824 because of that profession. In 1825 he joined the Imperial Brazilian Navy as a second-lieutenant, fighting in the Cisplatine War and commanding the corvette General Dorrego (renamed General do Rêgo), which was captured from the Argentine Navy in 1828. He arrived in Cuiabá, in southwestern Brazil, in 1830. He had been named to staff the navy arsenal being built there. In 1843, he married Inês de Almeida Leite.

Via a decree from the Emperor Dom Pedro II, he was named a knight of the Order of the Rose in 1841; he was then a captain-lieutenant of the navy. In 1844, already a frigate captain, he was elevated to officer of the same order. Throughout most of his time in the navy, he was responsible for mapping Mato Grosso's river network. He also was briefly named consul-general in Paraguay after the isolationist dictator Francia's death. Some years before the Platine War started, Juan Andrés Gelly, who had previously been Paraguay's ambassador to Brazil, requested that Leverger be lent to Paraguay as an attaché to aid in reorganizing that country's fleet, but Leverger was then in command of the Brazilian Navy's ships in Mato Grosso, and there were worries about a war with Bolivia, so other officers were sent.

When the Paraguayan War started in 1864, despite having already been retired from the navy, he was responsible for erecting the Melgaço Fortifications that defended Cuiabá from the Paraguayan offensive. Thanks to these efforts, he was granted the title Baron of Melgaço.

Before and after the war, on multiple occasions, he was named president of the province of Mato Grosso by the emperor. Overall, he was president of the province four times (two of these as interim president) and vice president once. He was a member of the Conservative Party and also of the Brazilian Historic and Geographic Institute.

He died in 1880 in Cuiabá.

Honors and legacy

The municipalities of Barão de Melgaço and Santo Antônio de Leverger, both in Mato Grosso, are named after him.

During Manuel José Murtinho's government in Mato Grosso (1889; 1891–1895), a monument was raised over his grave in the Piedade Cemitery in Cuiabá. He was the patron of the 1978 class of the Colégio Naval and is also patron of the Mato Grosso Academy of Letters and the Geographical and Historic Institute of Mato Grosso, two institutions that are hosted in his former house. The Brazilian Army's 13th Motorized Infantry Brigade is also named after him.

Works

• Observações sobre a Carta Geral do Império. [Observations on the Empire's General Letter]
• Apontamentos do Capitão de Fragata Augusto Leverger sobre o Rio Paraguai. [Observations of Frigate Captain Augusto Leverger on the Paraguay River]
• Apontamentos Chronológicos da Capitania de Matto-Grosso. [Historical Observations on the Matto-Grosso Captaincy]
• Apontamentos para o Diccionário Chronografico da Província do Mato Grosso. RIHGB. Rio de Janeiro: Tomo XLVII, Partes I e II, 1884. p. 307-504. [Observations for the Historical Dictionary of the Mato Grosso Province]
• Apontamentos sobre Eleições na Província de Mato- Grosso. [Observations on Elections in the Mato Grosso Province]
• Diário Privado do Chefe de Esquadra Augusto Leverger relativo aos meses de Janeiro, Fevereiro e Março de 1865. [Private Diary of Squadron Commander Augusto Leverger related to the months of January, February and March 1865]
• Breve Memória relativa à Corografia da Província de Matto-Grosso. [Brief Memoirs related to the Chorography of the Mato Grosso Province]
• Breve Resumo da Vida do Barão de Melgaço, Quanto à Parte Econômica, Escrita por ele mesmo. [Brief Summary of the life of the Baron of Melgaço, Related to its Economics, written by Himself]
• Carta Chorográfica do Distrito de Miranda, na Província de Matto-Grosso. [Chorographical chart of the District of Miranda, in the province of Matto-Grosso]
• Carta Geográphica da Província de Matto-Grosso. [Geographical Chart of the province of Matto-Grosso]
• Apontamentos Avulsos. [Singular Observations]
• Carta Hidrográfica do Rio Sepotúba. [Hidrographical Chart of the Sepotúba River]
• Carta de um Reconhecimento no distrito de Miranda, na Província de Matto-Grosso. [Chart of a Reconnaissance made in the District of Miranda, in the province of Matto-Grosso]
• Carta e Roteiro da Navegação do Rio Cuiabá desde o Salto até o Rio São Lourenço e deste último até a sua Confluência com o Paraguai. [Chart and Navigational Route of the Cuiabá River since its Cataracts up to the São Lourenço River and from the latter to its confluence with the Paraguay]
• Condições Administrativas da Província de Matto-Grosso, Apresentadas em Relatório de 13 de Janeiro de 1852 ao Ministro e Secretário de Estado dos Negócios do Império. [Administrative Conditions of the Matto-Grosso Province, Presented in a Report in the 13th of January 1852 to the Minister and Secretary of the Interior of the Empire]
• Derrota da Navegação Interior, da Vila de Porto Feliz, de São Paulo, à Cidade de Cuiabá. [Defeat of Internal Navigation, from the Village of Porto Feliz, in São Paulo, to the city of Cuiabá]
• Diário do Reconhecimento do Rio Paraguai desde Assunção até o Rio Paraná. [Diary of a Reconnaissance from the Paraguay River from Asunción to the Paraná River]
• Diário e Roteiro de Viagem feita desde a Cidade de Assunção no Paraguai até Baía Negra. [Diary and Route of Trip made from the City of Asunción to Baía Negra]
• Dicionário Geográphico de Matto Grosso. [Geographical Dictionary of Matto Grosso]
• Documentos Oficiais Portugueses e Espanhóis relativos a Limites do Império na Província de Matto-Grosso. [Official Spanish and Portuguese Documents related to the Empire's Borders in the Matto-Grosso Province]
• Esboço Hidrográfico, em Grande Escala, desde a Foz do Rio Miranda até o Paraguai. [Hidrographical Sketch, in Large Scale, from the Miranda River's Mouth to Paraguay]
• Esboço do Rio Cuiabá desde a Confluência do Rio São Lourenço até à Cidade daquele nome, Capital de Matto-Grosso. [Sketch of the Cuiabá River from the São Lourenço River confluence to the homonimous city, the Capital of Matto-Grosso]
• Exame de um parte do Rio Paraguai, entre a Foz do São Lourenço e o Paralelo 17º.35' e das Lagoas Uberava e Guaíba. [Exam of the part of the Paraguay River between the mouth of the São Lourenço River and the 17º.35' Parallel and the Uberava and Guaíba Lagoons]
• Índios da Província de Matto-Grosso. [Natives of the province of Matto-Grosso]
• Informação Prestada ao Ministro da Marinha em 1851, sobre as Matas de Madeira de Construção Naval. [Information Given to the Navy Minister in 1851, regarding the Naval Construction Lumber Woods]
• Informação Prestada em 1851 sobre o Traçado de uma Estrada que Comunique esta Capital com a Cidade de Santarém, no Pará. [Information Given in 1851 regarding the Layout of a Road that Should Connect this Capital to the City of Santarém, in Pará]
• Mapa da Fronteira Sul da Província de Matto-Grosso. [Map of the Southern Border of the Matto-Grosso Province]
• Mapa Geográphico, Chronólogico e Estatístico da Província de Matto-Grosso. [Geographical, Historical and Statistical Map of the Matto-Grosso Province]
• Memória sobre o Rio Paraguai, desde Nova Coimbra até Assunção. [Memoirs about the Paraguay River, from the New Fort of Coimbra to Asunción]
• Notícia sobre a Província de Matto-Grosso. [News about the province of Matto-Grosso]
• Observações sobre a Carta Geográfica da Província de Matto-Grosso. [Observations on the Geographical Chart of the Matto-Grosso Province]
• Planta Hidrográfica das Lagoas Uberava e Guaíba e da Porção do Rio Paraguai até a Foz do Rio São Lourenço. [Hidrographical Plan of the Uberava and Guaíba Lagoons and of the part of the Paraguay River up to the mouth of the São Lourenço River]
• Roteiro da Navegação do Rio Paraguai, desde a Foz do Sepotuba até o Rio São Lourenço. [Navigational Chart of the Paraguay River, from the Sepotuba River's Mouth to the São Lourenço River]
• Roteiro da Navegação do Rio Paraguai desde a Foz do São Lourenço até o Paraná. [Navigational Chart of the Paraguay River, from the Sepotuba River's Mouth to the Paraná River]
• Tabelas de Latitudes e Longitudes de Diversos Lugares da Província de Matto-Grosso, determinadas por Observações Astronômicas. [Tables of the Latitude and Longitude of a Variety of Places in the Matto-Grosso Province, determined by Astronomical Observations]