Antônio Gonçalves Dias
Encyclopedia
Antônio Gonçalves Dias (ɡõˈsawvis ˈdʒiɐs; August 10, 1823 — November 3, 1864) was a Brazil
ian Romantic
poet
, playwright
and linguist. He is famous for writing the poem "Canção do exílio
", arguably the most well-known poem of the Brazilian literature, and many other nationalist
and patriotic
poems that would later give him the title of national poet of Brazil. He was also an avid researcher of the Brazilian indigenous languages and folklore.
He is the patron of the 15th chair of the Brazilian Academy of Letters
.
João Manuel Gonçalves Dias and cafuza Vicência Ferreira. After completing his studies in Latin
, French
and Philosophy
, he went in 1838 to Portugal
to earn a degree in Law
at the University of Coimbra. There, he got in contact with the Romantic
ideals and wrote his critically acclaimed poem "Canção do exílio
". He graduated in 1845 and returned to Brazil in the same year. He goes to Rio de Janeiro
, living there until 1854. There, he wrote the drama
Leonor de Mendonça in 1846 and his first poetry book, Primeiros Cantos, in 1847.
In 1848, he wrote two more poetry books: Segundos Cantos and Sextilhas de Frei Antão. In 1849 he became professor of Latin
and History
at the Colégio Pedro II
. In 1851, he published his last poetry book, Últimos Cantos. In the same year, he travelled to Northern Brazil, planning to marry his lifelong love, 14-year-old Ana Amélia Ferreira do Vale, to whom he dedicated many of his poems, such as "Seus olhos", "Leviana", "Palinódia" and "Retratação". However, the girl's family did not allow the marriage because of Gonçalves' mestizo descent. (This inspired his famous poem "Ainda uma vez — adeus!".) Returning to Rio displeased, he married Olímpia Carolina da Costa later on, having with her a stillborn
daughter.
During the period of 1854-1858, he went to Europe
on special missions for the Secretary of Foreign Affairs. In 1856, at Leipzig
, he published the three Cantos poetry books, wrote the first four cantos of the epic poem Os Timbiras (that he would leave unfinished) and also published a dictionary of the Tupi language
. Returning to Brazil, he founded the magazine Guanabara alongside Joaquim Manuel de Macedo
and Manuel de Araújo Porto-alegre in 1849, and went on expeditions to Negro and Madeira
Rivers, as a member of the Scientific Commission of Exploration. In 1862, he returned to Rio de Janeiro
, but soon went to Europe again, searching for a treatment to his diseases. In October 1863, he went to Lisbon
, where he translated Friedrich Schiller
's The Bride of Messina and some poems by Heinrich Heine
.
After a stay in France
, he decided to return to Brazil in 1864, in the ship "Ville de Boulogne". However, the ship was wrecked
on the shores of Guimarães, Maranhão
. All the passengers but Dias survived the incident.
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian Romantic
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
poet
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
, playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
and linguist. He is famous for writing the poem "Canção do exílio
Canção do exílio
"Canção do exílio" is a poem written by Brazilian Romantic writer Gonçalves Dias in 1843, when he was in Portugal, studying Law at the University of Coimbra. The poem is a famous example of the first phase of Brazilian Romanticism, that was marked by a heavy nationalism.The poem was published in...
", arguably the most well-known poem of the Brazilian literature, and many other nationalist
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
and patriotic
Patriotism
Patriotism is a devotion to one's country, excluding differences caused by the dependencies of the term's meaning upon context, geography and philosophy...
poems that would later give him the title of national poet of Brazil. He was also an avid researcher of the Brazilian indigenous languages and folklore.
He is the patron of the 15th chair of the Brazilian Academy of Letters
Academia Brasileira de Letras
Academia Brasileira de Letras is a Brazilian literary non-profit society established at the end of the 19th century by a group of 40 writers and poets inspired by the Académie Française. The first president, Machado de Assis, declared its foundation on December 15, 1896, with the statutes being...
.
Biography
Antônio Gonçalves Dias was born in Caxias on August 10, 1823, to PortuguesePortuguese people
The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
João Manuel Gonçalves Dias and cafuza Vicência Ferreira. After completing his studies in Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and Philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
, he went in 1838 to Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
to earn a degree in Law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
at the University of Coimbra. There, he got in contact with the Romantic
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
ideals and wrote his critically acclaimed poem "Canção do exílio
Canção do exílio
"Canção do exílio" is a poem written by Brazilian Romantic writer Gonçalves Dias in 1843, when he was in Portugal, studying Law at the University of Coimbra. The poem is a famous example of the first phase of Brazilian Romanticism, that was marked by a heavy nationalism.The poem was published in...
". He graduated in 1845 and returned to Brazil in the same year. He goes to Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
, living there until 1854. There, he wrote the drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
Leonor de Mendonça in 1846 and his first poetry book, Primeiros Cantos, in 1847.
In 1848, he wrote two more poetry books: Segundos Cantos and Sextilhas de Frei Antão. In 1849 he became professor of Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
and History
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
at the Colégio Pedro II
Colégio Pedro II (Rio de Janeiro)
Colégio Pedro II is a Federal Public School named after Pedro II of Brazil. It was founded on December 2 1837, and made official by Imperial decree on December 20 of the same year. It was named after the Emperor, since it was founded on his birthday....
. In 1851, he published his last poetry book, Últimos Cantos. In the same year, he travelled to Northern Brazil, planning to marry his lifelong love, 14-year-old Ana Amélia Ferreira do Vale, to whom he dedicated many of his poems, such as "Seus olhos", "Leviana", "Palinódia" and "Retratação". However, the girl's family did not allow the marriage because of Gonçalves' mestizo descent. (This inspired his famous poem "Ainda uma vez — adeus!".) Returning to Rio displeased, he married Olímpia Carolina da Costa later on, having with her a stillborn
Stillbirth
A stillbirth occurs when a fetus has died in the uterus. The Australian definition specifies that fetal death is termed a stillbirth after 20 weeks gestation or the fetus weighs more than . Once the fetus has died the mother still has contractions and remains undelivered. The term is often used in...
daughter.
During the period of 1854-1858, he went to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
on special missions for the Secretary of Foreign Affairs. In 1856, at Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
, he published the three Cantos poetry books, wrote the first four cantos of the epic poem Os Timbiras (that he would leave unfinished) and also published a dictionary of the Tupi language
Old Tupi language
Old Tupi or Classical Tupi is an extinct Tupian language which was spoken by the native Tupi people of Brazil, mostly those who lived close to the sea. It belongs to the Tupi–Guarani language family, and which has a written history spanning the 16th, 17th and early 18th centuries...
. Returning to Brazil, he founded the magazine Guanabara alongside Joaquim Manuel de Macedo
Joaquim Manuel de Macedo
Joaquim Manuel de Macedo was a Brazilian novelist, doctor, teacher, poet, playwright and journalist, famous for the romance A Moreninha.He is the patron of the 20th chair of the Brazilian Academy of Letters.-Life:...
and Manuel de Araújo Porto-alegre in 1849, and went on expeditions to Negro and Madeira
Madeira River
The Madeira River is a major waterway in South America, approximately 3,250 km miles long The Madeira is the biggest tributary of the Amazon...
Rivers, as a member of the Scientific Commission of Exploration. In 1862, he returned to Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
, but soon went to Europe again, searching for a treatment to his diseases. In October 1863, he went to Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, where he translated Friedrich Schiller
Friedrich Schiller
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was a German poet, philosopher, historian, and playwright. During the last seventeen years of his life , Schiller struck up a productive, if complicated, friendship with already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang von Goethe...
's The Bride of Messina and some poems by Heinrich Heine
Heinrich Heine
Christian Johann Heinrich Heine was one of the most significant German poets of the 19th century. He was also a journalist, essayist, and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of Lieder by composers such as Robert Schumann...
.
After a stay in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, he decided to return to Brazil in 1864, in the ship "Ville de Boulogne". However, the ship was wrecked
Shipwreck
A shipwreck is what remains of a ship that has wrecked, either sunk or beached. Whatever the cause, a sunken ship or a wrecked ship is a physical example of the event: this explains why the two concepts are often overlapping in English....
on the shores of Guimarães, Maranhão
Maranhão
Maranhão is a northeastern state of Brazil. To the north lies the Atlantic Ocean. Maranhão is neighbored by the states of Piauí, Tocantins and Pará. The people of Maranhão have a distinctive accent...
. All the passengers but Dias survived the incident.
Poetry
- Primeiros Cantos (First Chants — 18461846 in literatureThe year 1846 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*First publication of the Daily News, edited by Charles Dickens....
) - Segundos Cantos (Second Chants — 18481848 in literatureThe year 1848 in literature involved some significant new books.-New books:*R M Ballantyne -Life in the Wilds of North America*Anne Brontë - The Tenant of Wildfell Hall*Edward George Bulwer-Lytton - Harold...
) - Sextilhas de Frei Antão (Friar Anton's Sextilles — 18481848 in literatureThe year 1848 in literature involved some significant new books.-New books:*R M Ballantyne -Life in the Wilds of North America*Anne Brontë - The Tenant of Wildfell Hall*Edward George Bulwer-Lytton - Harold...
) - Últimos Cantos (Last Chants — 18511851 in literatureThe year 1851 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*January 1 - The Georgian theatre company gives its first performance, under the direction of Giorgi Eristavi....
)
Theater
- Patkull (18431843 in literatureThe year 1843 in literature involved some significant new books.-New books:*William Harrison Ainsworth - Windsor Castle*Edward George Bulwer-Lytton - The Last of the Barons*James Fenimore Cooper - Le Mouchoir; an Autobiographical Romance...
) - Leonor de Mendonça (18471847 in literatureThe year 1847 in literature involved some significant new books.-New books:*Honoré de Balzac - Le Cousin Pons*Anne Brontë - Agnes Grey*Charlotte Brontë - Jane Eyre*Emily Brontë - Wuthering Heights*Catherine Gore - Castles in The Air...
) - Beatriz Cenci (1844-1845)
- Boabdul (18501850 in literatureThe year 1850 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*Alfred Lord Tennyson named Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, succeeding William Wordsworth.*Periodical Household Words begins publication...
)
Epic poems
- I-Juca-Pirama (18511851 in literatureThe year 1851 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*January 1 - The Georgian theatre company gives its first performance, under the direction of Giorgi Eristavi....
) - Os Timbiras (The Timbiras — unfinishedUnfinished workAn unfinished work is creative work that has not been finished. Its creator may have chosen never to finish it or may have been prevented from doing so by circumstances outside of their control such as death. Such pieces are often the subject of speculation as to what the finished piece would have...
, 18561856 in literatureThe year 1856 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*Arthur Schopenhauer adds a chapter on "The Metaphysics of Sexual Love" to the third edition of his The World as Will and Representation....
)
Other
- MeditaçãoMeditação (prose)Meditação is a discontinued series of prose poetries written by Brazilian poet Gonçalves Dias. Written circa 1850, it was published serially in the magazine Guanabara, who was founded by him, alongside other Brazilian writers, Joaquim Manuel de Macedo and Manuel de Araújo Porto-alegre.The work...
(Meditation — unfinished, 18501850 in literatureThe year 1850 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*Alfred Lord Tennyson named Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, succeeding William Wordsworth.*Periodical Household Words begins publication...
) - Memórias de Agapito - (Memórias de Agapito - unifinished, 18461846 in literatureThe year 1846 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*First publication of the Daily News, edited by Charles Dickens....
) - Dicionário da Língua Tupi (A Dictionary of the Tupi LanguageOld Tupi languageOld Tupi or Classical Tupi is an extinct Tupian language which was spoken by the native Tupi people of Brazil, mostly those who lived close to the sea. It belongs to the Tupi–Guarani language family, and which has a written history spanning the 16th, 17th and early 18th centuries...
— 18561856 in literatureThe year 1856 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*Arthur Schopenhauer adds a chapter on "The Metaphysics of Sexual Love" to the third edition of his The World as Will and Representation....
)
Trivia
- He was the uncle of Teófilo DiasTeófilo DiasTeófilo Odorico Dias de Mesquita was a Brazilian poet, journalist and lawyer, nephew of Gonçalves Dias.He is the patron of the 36th chair of the Brazilian Academy of Letters.-Life:...
, who was a poet as well. - The city of Gonçalves Dias, founded in 1958, has this name because its territory formerly belonged to the city of Caxias, Dias' hometown.