Arnon Afonso de Farias Melo

Arnon Afonso de Farias Melo (19 September 1911 — 29 September 1983) was a Brazilian journalist, lawyer, politician and businessperson. He is the father of the ex-president of Brazil Fernando Collor de Mello.

Biography He was the son of Manuel Afonso de Melo and Lúcia de Farias Melo.

He studied in Maceió until he moved to Rio de Janeiro in 1930, where he worked as a journalist at A Vanguarda, a newspaper closed down by the Revolution of 1930. A lawyer who graduated from the National Law School of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in 1933, he worked for the Diário de Notícias and the Diários Associados before graduating. After graduating he worked for the Commercial Association of Rio de Janeiro and also for the Diário Carioca and O Jornal. In 1936 he took over the direction of the Gazeta de Alagoas and was a member of the board of directors of the Brazilian Press Association.

Political career After the end of the Third Brazilian Republic, he joined the National Democratic Union and was elected federal deputy in 1945.

Soon after the shooting, both senators were arrested. Pericles was released shortly afterwards; Arnon remained in prison for seven months, but was acquitted by the Supreme Federal Court in July 1964. The courts held that the senator had acted in self-defense. Mrs. Creusa Kairala, the victim's widow, sued Arnon de Mello, demanding that he pay for the education of the couple's four children. According to press records, however, all Mrs. Creusa got was a pension.

After this episode, the two senators were reappointed. Arnon de Mello was reelected senator twice.

Death Suffering from progressive supranuclear palsy, Arnon de Mello died at age 72, on September 29, 1983, in Maceió.