Pedro de Alcántara Brasileiro

Pedro de Alcântara Brasileiro de Saisset was born in Paris on August 28, 1829, and died in California on March 16, 1902. He was the illegitimate son of the Brazilian Emperor Pedro I, who ruled in Portugal as King Pedro IV, and Henriette Josephine Clémence de Saisset. On his mother’s side, he was the grandson of the dancer Catherine Lambert, also known as Madame de Saint-Romain. Shortly after Pedro’s birth, Pedro I assured the child’s mother that, despite the circumstances preventing him from officially acknowledging his son, he would never abandon him financially. In a message dated November 1829, he promised to provide for the child’s livelihood and education. This promise, however, was not kept permanently. Clémence and her son’s situation became even more difficult when Pedro I abdicated the Brazilian throne on April 7, 1831, and soon afterward went to Europe. There, Pedro I fought his younger brother Miguel to secure the Portuguese throne for his daughter Maria da Glória. The girl, a granddaughter of King João VI, had been born in Rio de Janeiro in 1819 and became entitled to the crown at the age of seven. After the death of her grandfather, her father was proclaimed King Pedro IV of Portugal. He initially reached an understanding with Miguel that Maria da Glória would become queen. Miguel nevertheless broke the agreement and seized the throne for himself. Pedro I eventually won the war against his brother, but he did not resume the payments intended for his son. The lack of news and support outraged Clémence de Saisset, who consequently wrote an extensive complaint to the Duke of Braganza. Pedro I’s death in September 1834 deeply affected Clémence. She now feared that her son would permanently lose the financial assistance his father had promised. In a letter to Francisco Gomes da Silva dated December of that year, she asked whether the emperor had provided for Pedro in his will. She wrote that her son had lost not only his father but also his protector, and emphasized how urgently she needed reassurance about his future. Clémence did not take Pedro to the funeral ceremonies, but she made him wear mourning clothes. Decades later, in a letter to his half-brother, Emperor Pedro II, he recalled that he had been dressed entirely in black and told that his “Friend” had died. As a child, he did not know whom he had lost. While Pedro I lived in Paris, he occasionally received his son, placed him on his knee, and gave him sweets, without revealing that he was his father. Pedro de Saisset was only five years old when this mysterious “Friend” died. In his will, Pedro I finally acknowledged him as his son and left him part of his estate. Pedro de Saisset later worked in various business ventures in the United States. He also served as a French consular agent for more than three decades. He maintained a close and affectionate relationship with his half-sister, Princess Januária, Countess of Áquila. After her death in 1901, he remained in mourning for five months. On January 17, 1859, Pedro married Maria de Jesus Palomares de Suñol, known as Jesusita, in St. Joseph’s Church. Whether the marriage was based primarily on love or also on practical considerations and shared interests remains uncertain. Jesusita was the widow of Don José Suñol, who belonged to one of the region’s wealthiest and most influential families. At first, the couple lived in a modest adobe house. Pedro nevertheless anticipated that the marriage would substantially change his circumstances and began building a new family home on the prestigious Market Plaza. Constructed in the Victorian style, the house had three floors and a large garden. Pedro and Jesusita had four children: Henriette de Saisset, born in 1860 and died in 1947; Ernest de Saisset, born in 1862 and died in 1899; Pierre de Saisset, born in 1870 and died in 1933; and Isabel de Saisset, born in 1876 and died in 1950. His origins, marked by family uncertainty, were thus followed by a later life in the United States as a businessman, French consular agent, husband, and father.