Pedro Lessa

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Pedro Augusto Carneiro Lessa (Serro, 25 September 1859 – 25 July 1921) was a Brazilian professor of Constitutional Law and Philosophy of Law. He published important books in Portuguese language about Philosophy of Law, and he lectured at the University of São Paulo School of Law. Pedro Lessa was mulatto. So he was the first black justice of Brazilian Supremo Tribunal Federal. Even after his appointment as a Supreme Court Justice, he suffered racism from his own colleagues, as occurred in a disagreement with fellow Justice Epitácio Pessoa during trials in that court, who even threatened to write an article calling him "pardavasco" (a derogatory term implying someone of mixed race). Lessa was also a strong defender of the constitutional prerogatives of the Judiciary Branch in Brazil, even favoring judicial activism in the protection of fundamental rights. It was in this context that he created the Brazilian theory of habeas corpus, which led to the incorporation into Brazilian law of the procedural action known as writ of mandamus (In Portuguese "Mandado de segurança"). Member of Brazilian Academy of Letters since 1910, he was also an intellectual who wrote philosophical essays such as "Is History a Science?", a text published in 1900 that is believed to be the first work written and published in Brazil on the Philosophy of History. He wrote several books, articles and essays published in specialized reviews. Lessa contributes to spread the legal positivism on Brazilian Law. He died in Rio de Janeiro.