Ambrósio Leitão da Cunha

Ambrósio Leitão da Cunha, the Baron of Mamoré (21 August 1825 – 5 December 1898) was a Brazilian lawyer and politician who served as a senator in the Empire of Brazil from 1870 to 1889. He also served as president of the provinces of Pará, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Maranhão, and Bahia.

Biography His parents were Gaspar Leitão da Cunha and Maria Antônia da Fonseca Zuzarte, descendants of Portuguese families who settled in the Captaincy of Grão-Pará in the second half of the 18th century. Gaspar Leitão was a Major in the Army, of the 2nd Regiment of the 1st Line, born in Pará, and son of frigate captain Manoel Gonçalves da Cunha, who was transferred in 1780 from Mazagão in Africa to Mazagão in the present-day state of Amapá.

Ambrósio served as a judge, police chief, appellate judge, provincial and general deputy, president of a province, and senator of the Empire of Brazil from 1870 to 1889. During his youth, he studied humanities in Lisbon. In 1839, he was appointed clerk of the provincial treasury of Pará, subsequently holding the positions of Inspector of the Treasury and Director of Public Instruction. He began his law studies at the Faculty of Law of Olinda and later transferred to the São Paulo, completing his bachelor's degree in 1845.