João Pessoa Cavalcanti de Albuquerque (24 January 1878 – 26 July 1930) was a Brazilian politician and lawyer who served as the governor of Paraíba between 1928 and 1930.

Pessoa was a supporter of Getúlio Vargas and ran as his running mate in the 1930 Brazilian presidential election in opposition to the café com leite system.

In the 1930 presidential elections, Pessoa refused to support the Republican candidate, Júlio Prestes, and accepted an invitation to become the running mate on the ticket of Getúlio Vargas.

The assassination stirred up a wave of bad feeling toward the federal government and the outgoing president Washington Luís, who was accused of bearing the "moral responsibility".

Parahyba do Norte, the capital and largest city of Paraíba, was renamed João Pessoa in September 1930, two months after his assassination.