Brazilian Historical Figures

Antônio de Castro Alves (Curralinho, March 14, 1847 – Salvador, July 6, 1871) was a Brazilian poet. He was born on the farm Cabaceiras, seven lagoons (42 km) from the town of Our Lady of the Conception of “Curralinho” (today Castro Alves, Bahia). His poetry (Romantic school) is best known for its fight against slavery, which is why he is known as the “Poet of the Slaves.” His mother died in 1869. At school and at home with his father, he found a literary atmosphere produced by Oiteiro, or evening parties, festivals of art, music, poetry, and recitation of verses. At 17, he wrote his first poems. On November 10, 1863, he recited his first verses in Portuguese at a feast in the Gym. His father married a second time on January 24, 1862, to the widow Maria Rosário Guimarães. The day after the wedding, the poet and his brother José Antônio left for Recife, while their father moved to Solar Sodré. In May, he underwent the admission test for entrance into the Faculty of Recife and failed. But it would be in Recife that the poet, always in demand by the public sessions of the Faculty, the student societies, and the theater audience, at once encouraged by applause and cheering, began to gain momentum and a crescendo of apotheosis. He was a handsome young man, slim-sized, with pale skin, big bright eyes, black and thick hair, and a powerful voice; gifts and ways that impressed the crowd, necessitating the admiration of men and sweeping women’s passions. Then came the first novels, which made us feel in his verses the most beautiful lyrics of Brazil. In 1863, the Portuguese actress Eugênia Câmara performed at Teatro Santa Isabel. Her arrival in Brazil with Furtado Coelho would influence his life. On May 17, Castro Alves published the first issue of Spring, his first poem against slavery: The Song of Africa. Tuberculosis manifested in 1863, and he had his first hemoptysis. In 1864, his brother José Antônio, who had suffered from mental illness since the death of their mother, committed suicide in Curralinho. He finally managed to enroll in the Law School of Recife, and in October, he traveled to Bahia. He returned to Recife on March 18, 1865, accompanied by Fagundes Varela. On August 10, he recited The Wise Man at the Faculty of Law and became attached to an unknown girl, Idalina. He enlisted on August 19 in the Academic Volunteer Battalion for the War of Paraguay. On December 16, Fagundes Varela returned to Salvador. His father died the following year, January 23, 1866. Castro Alves returned to Recife, enrolling in the second year of college. On that occasion, he, Rui Barbosa, and other friends formed an abolitionist society. In 1866, Eugênia Câmara became his mistress. He had a period of intense literary production and his apostolate for two great causes: one social and moral, for the abolition of slavery, the other republican, the political aspirations of the most exalted liberals. In 1866, he finished his drama Gonzaga or the Revolution of Mines, which was performed in Bahia and then in Rio, and which managed to enshrine the two major causes of his calling. On May 29, he decided to go to Salvador, accompanied by Eugênia. At the premiere of Gonzaga, on September 7, at the Teatro São João, he was crowned and carried in triumph.

Raimundo da Mota Correia de Azevedo (São Luís do Maranhão, May 13, 1859 – Paris, September 13, 1911) was a Brazilian poet and judge. He was born aboard the ship São Luís at the port of Maranhão. The son of a high-class family, his parents were Judge José da Mota Correia de Azevedo and Maria Clara Vieira da Mota de Azevedo Correia, both natives of Maranhão. His father was descended from the Dukes of Caminha and was the son of Portuguese parents. He completed his secondary schooling at the Colégio Pedro II in Rio de Janeiro. In 1882, he graduated from the Faculty of Law at Largo São Francisco, developing a successful career as a judge in Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais. He had a nephew named after him, the son of his uncle José da Mota de Azevedo Correia, Raimundo Correia Sobrinho, trained in law like his uncle and the poet, who wrote a book of poems, “A Prayer for the Afflicted,” published in 1945 by Livraria José Olympio Editora. He died on September 13, 1911, in Paris, where he had been dealing with health issues. Raimundo Correia began his poetic career with the book “Primeiros Sonhos,” showing a strong influence of the Romantic poets Fagundes Varela, Casimiro de Abreu, and Castro Alves. In 1883, with the book “Sinfonias,” he embraced Parnassianism and became a member, along with Alberto de Oliveira and Olavo Bilac, of the so-called “Parnassian Triad.” The themes adopted by Raimundo Correia revolve around the formal perfection of objects. He differs somewhat from other Parnassians because his poetry is marked by a strong pessimism, even becoming grim. In analyzing the work of Raimundo Correia, one realizes that there is an evolution. He began his career as a Romantic, then embraced Parnassianism, and in some poems, he approached the Symbolist school.

Dom Pedro I

Pedro I of Brazil and IV of Portugal (full name: Pedro de Alcântara Francisco António João Carlos Xavier de Paula Miguel Rafael Joaquim José Gonzaga Pascoal Cipriano Serafim de Bragança e Bourbon, Queluz, October 12, 1798 – Queluz, September 24, 1834) was the first emperor of Brazil (1822-1831) and the 28th King of Portugal (for seven days in 1826). He received the titles of Prince, Grand Prior of Crato, Prince of Beira, Prince of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil, and the Algarves, Prince Regent of the Kingdom of Brazil, as well as the first Emperor of Brazil as Dom Pedro I, from October 12, 1822, to April 7, 1831, and the 28th King of Portugal (title inherited from his father, King John VI), for a period of seven days (between April 26 and May 2, 1826) as Dom Pedro IV. In Portugal, he is known as the “Soldier King” for fighting his brother Dom Miguel in the Civil War of 1832-34 or the King-Emperor. He is also known, on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, as The Liberator – Liberator of Brazil from Portuguese rule and Liberator of Portugal from absolute government. Dom Pedro I abdicated both crowns: the Portuguese to his daughter Dona Maria da Glória and the Brazilian to his son Dom Pedro II. Dom Pedro I was the fourth child (second son) of King John VI and his wife, Carlota Joaquina of Bourbon, Princess of Spain, the eldest daughter of Spanish King Carlos IV of Spain. He became heir after the death of his older brother, Francisco (1795-1801).