of living described as "comfortable". Afonso's mother came from an influential family in Santa Bárbara politics. Thus, Afonso's family was part the Minas Gerais' elite. As a child, he was taken care of by the nursemaid Ambrosina, a slave. According to José Anchieta da Silva, one of his biographers, Pena was an early abolitionist who fought for better working conditions for his father's slaves. Pena completed his primary studies in his hometown, later transferring to the at the age of ten in 1857. The school was maintained by the Lazarist priests and Pena's father was one of its most prominent contributors. At the school, he had theology, ethics, philosophy, mathematics, geometry, history, rhetoric and foreign language classes. Pena finished his studies in the Caraça School on 16 January 1864 and later moved to the city of São Paulo to study at the Faculty of Law in 1866. Personal life and views At the Faculty of Law During his studies at the Faculty of Law, Pena was a colleague of Ruy Barbosa, , Joaquim Nabuco, Castro Alves and Rodrigues Alves. With the latter, he founded the journal Imprensa Acadêmica, focused on debating academic and political issues. From the few remaining copies of this journal's articles it is possible to point out the influence of French authors such as Victor Hugo, Honoré de Balzac and Émile Zola. In the Faculty of Law he also joined the , a secret student society, inspired by the German Burschenschaft associations and founded by professor Julius Frank, becoming chief of the Bucha'''s "general communion". This association helped students that could not afford to pay for their studies at the Faculty. Pena was an adept of the natural law ideas and an opponent of positivism, as he was a fervent catholic and sympathetic to the monarchy in Brazil. His ideas distanced him from the Brazilian positivists, who defended the separation of Church and State and the implantation of a military republic in the country. Two other movements divided Brazil during his years at the Faculty of Law: abolitionism and republicanism. Pena supported the former but not the latter, refusing to sign the , as he considered Brazil was not ready for a regime change. Early law career Pena graduated with a Law degree on 23 October 1870. The following year, he became a doctor at the same institution, after defending the thesis Letra de Câmbio on 19