(1883–1954), Brazilian dictator-president (1930–45, 1951–54), whose revolutionary changes in the established order put Brazil into the vanguard of modern Latin American nations.

Vargas was born on April 19, 1883, in São Borja and attended law school in Porto Alegre, graduating in 1907. He was then appointed public prosecutor in the city, having previously campaigned for the Republican party. Vargas served in the state legislature of Rio Grande do Sul (1909–12) but was barred from public office for criticizing the party boss; he was returned to the legislature in 1917. In 1922 he was elected to the Brazilian congress and in 1926 became minister of finance. He returned to Rio Grande do Sul as governor in 1928, using the office to gather support for his presidential candidacy in 1930. Although he lost the election, Vargas took power later that year at the head of an army-backed coup; he ruled by decree as provisional president until 1934, when he was elected to a term by congress. In 1937, upon throwing out the 1934 constitution, he declared a New State (Estado Novo), with himself as dictator.

Vargas presided over a shifting of power from the states to the central government and from the landowners to the urban middle and lower classes. He led the government into business in competition with private capital and allowed labor to organize, greatly encouraging modernization of Brazilian industry. Deposed in 1945, he won the presidency again five years later with the support of the labor movement. His administration, however, was increasingly opposed by the military. Facing another deposal, he committed suicide on Aug. 24, 1954.