[1] He was born in Ouro Preto, the son of Afonso Celso, Viscount of Ouro Preto, the last President of the Council of Ministers of the Brazilian Empire, and of Francisca de Paula Martins de Toledo, the daughter of Counselor Joaquim Floriano de Toledo, colonel of the National Guard, who was president of the province of São Paulo six times.

With the proclamation of the republic, in 1889, left the policy to accompany the father in exile, that followed the departure of the imperial family for Portugal.

In the magisterium, he held the chair of political economy at the Faculty of Juridical and Social Sciences of Rio de Janeiro.

After the death of the Baron of Rio Branco, in 1912, he was elected perpetual president of this institution, a post he held until 1938.

Among them were names like Joaquim Nabuco, José do Patrocínio, Machado de Assis, Rui Barbosa and Visconde of Taunay.