1917 in Brazil

Incumbents

Federal government

• President: Venceslau Brás
• [Vice President of Brazil|President of Brazil|Vice President]: Urbano Santos da Costa Araújo

Governors

• Alagoas: João Batista Accioli Jr.
• Amazonas: Pedro de Alcântara Bacelar
• Bahia: Antônio Ferrão Muniz de Aragão
• Ceará: João Tomé de Sabóia e Silva
• Goiás:
• * until 9 May: Aprígio José de Sousa
• * 9 May - 14 July: Salatiel Simões de Lima
• * from 14 July: João Alves de Castro
• Maranhão:
• * until 20 March: Herculano Nina Parga
• * from 20 March Antônio Brício de Araújo
• Mato Grosso: Caetano Manuel de Faria e Albuquerque, then Camilo Soares de Moura, then Cipriano da Costa Ferreira
• Minas Gerais: Delfim Moreira
• Pará:
• * until 1 February: Enéas Martins
• * from 1 February: Lauro Sodré
• Paraíba: Francisco Camilo de Holanda
• Paraná: Afonso Camargo
• Pernambuco: Manuel Antônio Pereira Borba
• Piauí: Eurípedes Clementino de Aguiar
• Rio Grande do Norte: Joaquim Ferreira Chaves
• Rio Grande do Sul: Antônio Augusto Borges de Medeiros
• Santa Catarina:
• São Paulo:
• Sergipe:

Vice governors

• Rio Grande do Norte:
• São Paulo:

Events

• 5 April - The steamship Paraná, loaded with coffee and travelling in accordance with the demands made on neutral countries, is torpedoed by a German submarine; three Brazilians are killed.
• 11 April - Brazil breaks off diplomatic relations with Germany.
• 7 May - Foreign Minister Lauro Müller is obliged to resign because of his German origins.
• 20 May - The ship Tijuca is torpedoed near the French coast by a German submarine.
• 27 July - The steamer Lapa Brazil is hit by three torpedoes from a German submarine.
• 23 October - The Brazilian freighter Macau, one of the vessels seized in the course of the war, was torpedoed by the German submarine SM U-93 near the coast of Spain, and the captain taken prisoner.
• 26 October - World War I: Brazil declares war on the Central Powers.
• 1 November - A mob damages German property in Petropolis, including the restaurant Brahma, the Gesellschaft Germania, the German school, the company Arp, and the German Journal.
• 4 November - Acari Guaíba and another ship are torpedoed by the same German submarine, SM U-151.

Births

• 9 January - Otto Glória, football coach
• 25 January - Jânio Quadros, 22nd President of Brazil
• 21 February - Luz del Fuego, ballerina, naturist and feminist
• 17 April - Roberto de Oliveira Campos, economist, writer and politician
• 5 May - Dalva de Oliveira, singer
• 31 May - Zilka Salaberry, actress
• 2 September - Laurindo Almeida, guitarist and composer
• 30 September - Chacrinha, comedian, radio and TV personality

Deaths

• 11 February - Oswaldo Cruz, physician, pioneer bacteriologist, epidemiologist and public health officer
• 22 October - Manuel Lopes Rodrigues, artist