João Maurício Vanderlei, Baron of Cotegipe

Brazilian magistrate and politician

Baron of Cotegipe
Picture by Alberto Henschel, 1875

Prime Minister of Brazil
In office 20 August 1885 – 10 March 1888
Monarch	Pedro II
Preceded by	José Antônio Saraiva
Succeeded by	João Alfredo de Oliveira
Minister of Justice
In office 27 January 1887 – 8 February 1887
Preceded by	Joaquim Ribeiro da Luz
Succeeded by	Samuel Wallace MacDowell

Personal details
Born	23 October 1815 Barra, Pernambuco, Kingdom of Brazil
Died	13 February 1889(1889-02-13) (aged 73) Rio de Janeiro, Empire of Brazil
Political party	Conservative
Occupation	Politician

João Maurício Vanderlei or Wanderley, first and only baron of Cotegipe (October 23, 1815 – February 13, 1889), was a Brazilian magistrate and politician of the Conservative Party.

Born as the son of João Maurício Vanderlei, a Dutch descendant,^[1] and Francisca Antónia do Livramento, of Portuguese ancestry.

He graduated from the University of Olinda in 1837 with a bachelor's degree in Law and was Marine Minister, Farm Minister, External Minister and Justice Minister of Brazil. He was also President of the Senate of Brazil from 1881 to 1885,^[2] and President of the Council of Ministers from 1885 until 1888 and president of the Banco do Brasil.

Wanderley was responsible for the approvement of the Sexagenarians Law in 1885, which granted freedom to slaves who were older than 60 years old.

He was dismissed from his post by Princess Isabel during her third regency in 1888. Months later, as a senator, he was the only one to vote against the approval of the Golden Law, which abolished slavery. He is assigned the dialogue with the Princess where he says: "Your Highness released a race but lost the throne" to which the Princess promptly replied: "A thousand thrones I had, a thousand thrones I would give to liberate the slaves of Brazil"