Domício da Gama

De Gama was born on October 23, 1862, in Maricá, Rio de Janeiro, Empire of Brazil. He attended preparatory school in Rio de Janeiro and before entering the Polytechnic School, but did not finish.

He entered the Brazilian foreign diplomatic service; his first commission was the secretary of the Immigration Service, and the contact at that time, the Baron of Rio Branco made him Secretary of the Rio Branco mission which established the boundaries of Brazil and Argentina and the boundary with French Guiana and the British Guyana.

He was Secretary of Legation at the Holy See in 1900 and minister in Lima in 1906, where he instrumental in preparing for the policy of Rio Branco crowned by the Treaty of Petropolis. In 1910, he was Ambassador on special mission representing Brazil in Argentina's independence centenary and the centennial celebrations of Chile.

From 1911 to 1918, he served as Brazil's ambassador to the United States,{{cite news |title=FAREWELL TO DA GAMA.; Friends Praise Brazilian Ambassador's Work Here. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1918/10/23/archives/farewell-to-da-gama-friends-praise-brazilian-ambassadors-work-here.html |access-date=1 April 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=23 October 1918}} before becoming Brazil's minister for Foreign Affairs in 1918.{{cite news |title=NEW CABINET FOR BRAZIL; Domicio Da Gama Now Minister of Foreign Affairs. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1918/11/16/archives/new-cabinet-for-brazil-domicio-da-gama-now-minister-of-foreign.html |access-date=1 April 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=16 November 1918}} After one year however, he was sent to London to be the Ambassador to Great Britain.

On March 4, 1915, Gama and two others received the Thanks of Congress and were awarded Congressional Gold Medals (P.L. 63-75, 38 Stat. 1228). The statute reads as follows.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the thanks of Congress to their excellencies be, and they are hereby, presented to their excellencies Señor Domício da Gama, Señor Rómulo S. Naón, and Señor Eduardo Suárez for their generous services as mediators in the controversy between the Government of the United States of America and the leaders of the warring parties in the Republic of Mexico. That the President of the United States is hereby authorized and requested to cause to be made and presented to their excellencies Señor Domicio da Gama, Señor Rómulo S. Naón, and Señor Eduardo Suárez suitable gold medals, appropriately inscribed, which shall express the high estimation in which Congress holds the services of these distinguished statesmen, and the Republics which they represent, in the promotion of peace and order in the American continent.

On November 27, 1912, De Gama was married to American heiress Elizabeth (née Bates) Volck Hearn at 856 Fifth Avenue in New York City (the home of U.S. Steel President Elbert Henry Gary){{cite news |last1=Miller |first1=Tom |title=The Lost Herman O. Armour House - 856 Fifth Avenue |url=http://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/2018/05/the-lost-herman-o-armour-house-856.html |access-date=1 April 2021 |work=Daytonian in Manhattan |date=20 May 2018}} by Mayor William Jay Gaynor. Elizabeth, the widow of Arthur H. Hearn, was a daughter of Joseph Bates and Amanda Jane (née Bell) Bates.{{cite news |title=MRS. HEARN MARRIES BRAZIL'S ENVOY; Widow of Arthur Hearn Wedded to Domicio da Gama at Mr. and Mrs. E. H. Gary's Home. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1912/11/28/archives/ivirs-hearh-1viarries-brazils-envoy-widow-of-arthur-hearn-wedded-to.html |access-date=1 April 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=28 November 1912}}{{cite news |title=MRS. E. B. DA GAMA, DIPLOMAT'S WIDOW; The Former Elizabeth Bates Is Stricken in France-- Rites in Washington Tomorrow |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1937/05/10/archives/mrs-e-b-da-gama-diplomats-widow-the-former-elizabeth-bates-is.html |access-date=1 April 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=10 May 1937}}

De Gama died on November 8, 1925, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.{{cite news |title=DOMICIO DA GAMA, EX-DIPLOMAT; Noted Brazilian Married the Widow of Arthur H. Hearn Here in 1912. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1925/11/10/archives/domicio-da-ga1via-exdiplo1vitt-d-noted-brailian-married-thei-widow.html |access-date=1 April 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=10 November 1925}}

File:DaGama 5285931236 6ae65dedec o.jpg|Portrait of Domício da Gama, {{circa|1910}}–1915

File:Gama 5456217050 0e4532c7cf o.jpg|Gama and his wife, Elizabeth Bates Volck Hearn da Gama, at the 1914 Niagara Falls peace conference

File:Eduardo Suárez Mujica and Domício da Gama and Romulo S. Naon Niagara Falls peace conference 1914.jpg|Eduardo Suárez Mujica, da Gama and Rómulo Sebastián Naón at the 1914 Niagara Falls peace conference

• Brazil – United States relations

{{reflist|30em}}

{{Commons category|Domício da Gama}}

• {{Internet Archive author |sname=Domício da Gama}}
• {{cite web|title=Domício da Gama|url=http://www.academia.org.br/academicos/domicio-da-gama|website=Academia Brasileira de Letras|access-date=28 October 2017|language=pt}}

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Brazilian Academy of Letters – Occupant of the 33th chair

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{{Succession box|title=President of the Brazilian Academy of Letters

|before=Rui Barbosa|after=Carlos de Laet|years=1919}}

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{{Patrons and members of the Brazilian Academy of Letters}}

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Category:1862 births

Category:1925 deaths

Category:Ambassadors of Brazil to the United States

Category:Ambassadors of Brazil to the United Kingdom

Category:Congressional Gold Medal recipients

Category:Brazilian journalists

Category:People from Maricá