Affonso Campos, um contemporâneo do futuro

Abstract

In the genealogy of Affonso Campos, his maternal grandfather, Lieutenant Colonel Honorato da Costa Agra, was considered the patriarch of the family. Elected in 1882 as president of the Campina Grande Board of Governors, he held the prerogative of leading the executive branch of the municipality. One of his daughters, Rosalina Agra de Souza Campos, married Silvino Rodrigues de Souza Campos, a legitimate cousin, and served as deputy mayor in 1896, with Lieutenant Colonel João Lourenço Porto, from the family's political clan, serving as mayor. When Affonso Campos graduated on December 18, 1902, at exactly 21 years of age, he was appointed district attorney. But in 1904, the group led by João Lourenço Porto was overthrown by President Álvaro Machado, who took over the state government for the second time. As a result of this coup, João Lourenço Porto invited Affonso Campos to lead the opposition. He was 23 years old and already had the support of the majority of his fellow party members. Thus began one of the most persistent, courageous and modern oppositions in Paraíba. That episode, however, would change my father's future destiny. The repercussions of his precociousness began in his early years, were developed in preparatory courses and consecrated at the Recife Law School. With his collaboration, a group of students organized the Legal Journal at the Teixeira de Freitas School. And, from 1901 to 1902, the theses addressed in his articles characterized him as super intelligent. His colleagues and professors thought that, at the first opportunity, he should run for law professor. Manoel Tavares Cavalcanti, a childhood friend until his death, advised him to decline the position of Prosecutor because "his broad mentality, with powerful wings, demanded broader horizons."