Benjamin Constant Botelho de Magalhães (1836-1891, 22 January) was a Brazilian military man and political thinker. 1836 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1891 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... January 22 is the 22nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ...

He was born at Niterói. The flag of the Municipality Niterói is a city in Brazil, in the state of Rio de Janeiro. ...

Primarily a positivist, influenced heavily by Auguste Comte, he was the founder of the positivist movement in Brazil (Sociedade Positivista do Brasil, Brazilian Positivist Society), and later this led to his republican views. He left the Brazilian Positivist society because of internal disagreements, but remained an ardent pupil of Comte till the end of his life. Auguste Comte Auguste Comte (full name Isidore Marie Auguste François Xavier Comte) (January 17 (recorded January 19), 1798 - September 5, 1857) was a positivist thinker and a founder of the discipline of sociology. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Republicanism is the view that a republic is the best form of government. ...

Benjamin Constant had a difficult childhood and attempted suicide at the age of 12. He served in the War of the Triple Alliance, and had a large family. He felt underpaid and unhappy as a soldier. An intellectual at heart, he was a great supporter of Comte's Religion of Humanity. The Death of Socrates by Jacques-Louis David, 1787 Suicide (from Latin sui caedere, to kill oneself) is the act of willfully ending ones own life; it is sometimes a noun for one who has committed or attempted the act. ... War of the Triple Alliance also known as the Paraguayan War in 1864-1870, was the bloodiest conflict in Latin-American history, fought between Paraguay and the allied countries of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. ... An intellectual is a person who uses his or her intellect to study, reflect, or speculate on a variety of different ideas. ...

His Republican views led him to found the Club Militar (or military club), with Deodoro da Fonseca, in May 1887. It was based in the Praia Vermelha Military School, and, shortly before his death, overthrew the emperor and helped establish a republic. Deodoro da Fonseca (Manuel) Deodoro da Fonseca (August 5, 1827 - August 23, 1892) overthrew Emperor Pedro II to become the first president of a Republic of Brazil. ...