Meet former presidents of the TCE-AM who marked the history of the court

Marcela Leiros – From Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – Over almost 73 years of creation, more than 30 personalities, men and women of great prominence, have already passed through the Presidency of the Court of Auditors of the State of Amazonas (TCE-AM) and had their stories eternalized in the project of the Museum of the institution that preserves documentary and photographic records of former presidents. Of these, REVISTA CENARIUM tells a little of the story, in chronological order, of the five already eternalized.

The initiative consists of producing albums with documents, newspapers, letters, speeches, notes and curiosities, material provided by family members. Started in 2019, the project has already completed the album of five former presidents (Paulo Pinto Nery, José Raimundo Franco de Sá, Armando Andrade de Menezes, Coriolano Cidade Lindoso and José Ribeiro do Nascimento), delivered to the families in a solemnity at the TCE-AM headquarters in Manaus.

Five more are in production and, when finalized, will also be given to the families of the honorees. The goal is to eternalize the history and memory of all 33 former presidents.

Coriolano Cidade Lindoso

Lindoso was born on November 18, 1919, in Seringal Vencedor, municipality of Manicoré, 331 kilometers from Manaus. Poet and columnist with daily chronicle in the newspaper “A Gazeta”, he was the father of seven children, four in the first marriage and three in the second.

He graduated in Legal and Social Sciences from the Law School of Ceará and, back in Manaus, he held the position of director of the state penitentiary and prosecutor of the Public Prosecutor’s Office in the District of Manicoré, where he practiced law in solidarity.

He was a state lawmaker for Amazonas in two legislatures (1952 to 1955) and, as vice-president of the Legislative Assembly of the State of Amazonas (Aleam), he even took over the Government of Amazonas on an interim basis at the end of Álvaro Maia’s administration. At the TCE, he was a judge and retired as a counselor, occupying the position of president in two terms: in the biennium 1954 and 1955, and 1960.

After his duties at the Court, he was legal advisor to the City Hall of Barreirinha, 330 kilometers from Manaus, where he was elected mayor for three terms (1969 to 1972; 1977 to 1982; and 1989 to 1992). He died on July 28, 2005.

José Raimundo Franco de Sá

Known as Franco de Sá, he was born in Manaus on March 9, 1916, being the 11th child of a family of 12 siblings, almost all born in Maranhão. The family moved to Manaus with his father, who took up a job as an accountant in the Water and Sewage Department of the Manaus City Hall. He married in 1941 and had six children.

He completed his studies in 1932, at the age of 16. He studied Medicine in Bahia and specialized in Ophthalmology. He returned to Manaus, where he worked in health units such as Santa Casa de Misericórdia, Beneficente Portuguesa and the Health Department of the State of Amazonas.

Franco de Sá was one of the founders of the Regional Council of Medicine of the State of Amazonas. At the TCE-AM, he was the first judge to be appointed in 1950, staying at the Court until his retirement in 1968, of which he was president in 1958 and 1964.

As a doctor, he worked in his office until he was 80 years old, where he practiced for free most of the time. He had to close it down as he had health problems. He died in 1998 at the age of 82.

Paulo Pinto Nery

Also from Amazonas, Paulo Pinto Nery was born on December 27, 1915, in Manaus. He graduated in Law from the University of Amazonas in 1939 and also studied Municipal Administration in Germany, at the invitation of the German Foundation. In addition to being a professor of Criminal Law at the State Law School, he was also a judge of the Court of Justice, appointed by the governor.

In public life, he was elected to the State Constituent Assembly in 1947. He was a federal lawmaker from 1950 to 1954. He ran for and won the City Council in 1964, the same year he was later appointed chief of police of the State of Amazonas.

From 1967 to 1971, by act of Governor Danilo Matos Areosa, he was appointed mayor of Manaus. He continued in office under Governor João Walter de Andrade until 1972. In 1975, he took office as a counselor of the TCE-AM, being president of the Court in the biennium 1976-1977. In 1979, he was sworn in as vice-governor of Amazonas and, in 1982, he was elected governor of the State.

Pinto Nery was also an academician of the Amazonian Academy of Legal Letters. Among the decorations, two stand out: armchair No. 5 of the Amazonian Academy of Letters and Rio Branco Order, in 1981, by decree of the then President of the Republic João Batista Figueiredo.

Armando Andrade de Menezes

Born in Parintins, 369 kilometers from Manaus, Menezes graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Legal and Social Sciences from the Amazonas Law School in 1952.

A military man, he also graduated from the Superior War Course at the Superior War School. He was a 1st category reservist, in the Border Platoon of Cucuí, a Brazilian district of the municipality of São Gabriel da Cachoeira, on the border with the State of Amazonas, Venezuela and the department of Guainía, Colombia, and 27th BC, as a soldier and corporal.

Andrade de Menezes was also a student activist, such as president of the Union of Students of Amazonas for two terms, as well as holding positions in academic directories.

In political life, he was 1st alternate councilor of the City Council of Manaus for the UDN and Special Delegate of Political and Social Security, of the Department of Security of the State of Amazonas, Secretary of State for Interior and Justice and Secretary of State for Education, Health and Social Assistance.

He held several positions at the TCE of Amazonas. He was a sub-procurator, prosecutor, counselor, president of the 1st Chamber, vice-president of the 1st Chamber, president of the Court (1978), corregidor-general and judging counselor.

José Ribeiro do Nascimento

Born in Xapuri, Acre, Nascimento was the father of four children. He began his school life in Manaus, at Colégio Dom Bosco, but attended the scientific, 1st and 2nd year of pre-engineering at Colégio Jurema, in Rio de Janeiro. He also attended the technical industrial chemistry school, 1st and 2nd year, but did not complete this.

He studied in Berlin, Germany, and, in Brazil, took several courses at the War College. At the TCE-AM, he was president in the biennium 1982-1983, and also in 1987, 1988 and 1989. He also held the position of president of the 2nd Chamber of the Court.

Among the honors, he won the Tiradentes Medal and the Medal of the Centenary of the Republic.