Antônio Gonçalves Dias (; August 10, 1823 – November 3, 1864) was a Brazilian Romantic

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

, ethnographer,

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

and

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

. A major exponent of Brazilian Romanticism and of the literary tradition known as " Indianism", he is famous for writing " Canção do exílio" (arguably the most well-known poem of Brazilian literature), the short narrative poem '' I-Juca-Pirama'', the unfinished

epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

'' Os Timbiras'', and many other

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

and patriotic poems that would award him posthumously with the title of

national poet A national poet or national bard is a poet held by tradition and popular acclaim to represent the identity, beliefs and principles of a particular national culture. The national poet as culture hero is a long-standing symbol, to be distinguished ...

of Brazil. He was also an avid researcher of Native Brazilian languages and folklore. He is the patron of the 15th chair of the Brazilian Academy of Letters.

Biography

Antônio Gonçalves Dias was born in Caxias on August 10, 1823, to a Portuguese father, João Manuel Gonçalves Dias and a '' cafuza'' mother, Vicência Ferreira. After completing his studies in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, French and

Philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

, he went in 1838 to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

to earn a degree in

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

at the

University of Coimbra The University of Coimbra (UC; , ) is a Public university, public research university in Coimbra, Portugal. First established in Lisbon in 1290, it went through a number of relocations until moving permanently to Coimbra in 1537. The university ...

. There he wrote his most remembered poem, " Canção do exílio". He graduated in 1845 and returned to Brazil in the same year. He went to

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, living there until 1854. There he wrote for newspapers, and began to write the

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

''Leonor de Mendonça'' in 1846 and his first poetry book, ''Primeiros Cantos'', in 1847. It was very well-received, and Alexandre Herculano wrote an article praising it. Dias finished his play ''Leonor de Mendonça'' also in 1847, and tried to have it performed at the Conservatório de Música do Rio de Janeiro, but the play was not accepted. In 1848, he wrote two more poetry books: ''Segundos Cantos'' and ''Sextilhas de Frei Antão''. In 1849 he became professor of

and

History History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

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 14-year-old Ana Amélia Ferreira do Vale, to whom he dedicated many of his most famous and beautiful love poems, such as "Seus olhos", "Leviana", "Palinódia" and "Retratação". Ana Amélia was the cousin of Alexandre Teófilo de Carvalho Leal, who in his turn was the brother of Antônio Henriques Leal, a famous Brazilian journalist, writer, medician, biographer and historian known as the "

Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...

of Cantanhede". (Both Alexandre and Antônio were very close friends with Dias, and Antônio would edit Dias' posthumous works in 1875, in 6 volumes.) However, the girl's mother did not allow the marriage, quoting Dias'

mestizo ( , ; fem. , literally 'mixed person') is a term primarily used to denote people of mixed European and Indigenous ancestry in the former Spanish Empire. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturall ...

origins as a pretext. (This inspired his famous poem "Ainda uma vez – adeus!".) Returning to Rio, he married Olímpia Carolina da Costa later on, having with her a stillborn daughter. Dias divorced Olímpia in 1856. From 1854 to 1858, he went to Europe on special missions for the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, where he studied the state of public instruction in the educational institutions there. In 1856, in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

, he published his three poetry books in a single volume entitled ''Cantos'', wrote the first four cantos of the epic poem ''Os Timbiras'' (that he would leave unfinished) and also published a dictionary of Old Tupi. Returning to Brazil in 1860, he founded the magazine ''Guanabara'' alongside

Joaquim Manuel de Macedo Joaquim Manuel de Macedo (June 24, 1820 – April 11, 1882) was a Brazilian novelist, medical doctor, teacher, poet, playwright and journalist, famous for the romance '' A Moreninha''. He is considered the first Brazilian novelist. He is the pat ...

and Manuel de Araújo Porto-Alegre in 1849, and went on expeditions to

Negro In the English language, the term ''negro'' (or sometimes ''negress'' for a female) is a term historically used to refer to people of Black people, Black African heritage. The term ''negro'' means the color black in Spanish and Portuguese (from ...

and

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

Rivers, as a member of the Scientific Commission of Exploration. In 1862 he returned to

, but shortly after went to Europe again. In October 1863 he went to

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

, where he translated

Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most important classical playwright. He was born i ...

's '' The Bride of Messina'' and some poems by

Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; ; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was an outstanding poet, writer, and literary criticism, literary critic of 19th-century German Romanticism. He is best known outside Germany for his ...

. After a short stay in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, he decided to return to Brazil in 1864, in the ship ''Ville de Boulogne''. However, the ship was wrecked on the Bay of Cumã, near the shores of Guimarães,

Maranhão Maranhão () is a States of Brazil, state in Brazil. Located in the country's Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region, it has a population of about 7 million and an area of and it is divided into 217 municipalities. Clockwise from north, it ...

. All the passengers but Dias survived the tragedy; he was sleeping in his cabin belowdecks and did not wake up in time to see what was happening; thus he drowned. Dias had a nephew who was also a poet, Teófilo Dias.

Works

Poetry

* ''Primeiros Cantos'' (''First Chants'' — 1847) * ''Segundos Cantos'' (''Second Chants'' — 1848) * ''Sextilhas de Frei Antão'' (''Friar Anton's Sextilles'' — 1848) * ''Últimos Cantos'' (''Last Chants'' —

1851 Events January–March * January 11 – Hong Xiuquan officially begins the Taiping Rebellion in China, one of the bloodiest revolts that would lead to 20 million deaths. * January 15 – Christian Female College, modern-d ...

) * ''Cantos'' (''Chants'' — compilation of ''Primeiros'', ''Segundos'' and ''Últimos Cantos'',

1856 Events January–March * January 8 – Borax deposits are discovered in large quantities by John Veatch in California. * January 23 – The American sidewheel steamer SS ''Pacific'' leaves Liverpool (England) for a transatl ...

)

Theater

* '' Patkull'' (

1843 Events January–March * January 3 – The '' Illustrated Treatise on the Maritime Kingdoms'' (海國圖志, ''Hǎiguó Túzhì'') compiled by Wei Yuan and others, the first significant Chinese work on the West, is published in China. * J ...

) * ''Beatriz Cenci'' (

1845 Events January–March * January 1 – The Philippines began reckoning Asian dates by hopping the International Date Line through skipping Tuesday, December 31, 1844. That time zone shift was a reform made by Governor–General Narciso ...

) * ''Leonor de Mendonça'' ( 1847) * ''Boabdil'' (

1850 Events January–March * January 29 – Henry Clay introduces the Compromise of 1850 to the United States Congress. * January 31 – The University of Rochester is founded in Rochester, New York. * January – Sacramento, Ca ...

)

Epic and narrative poems

* '' I-Juca-Pirama'' (

) * '' Os Timbiras'' (''The Timbiras'' — unfinished,

)

Other

* '' Meditação'' (''Meditation'' — unfinished,

) * ''Dicionário da Língua Tupi'' (''Dictionary of

Tupi Language Old Tupi, Ancient Tupi or Classical Tupi () is a classical Tupian language which was spoken by the indigenous Tupi people of Brazil, mostly those who inhabited coastal regions in South and Southeast Brazil. In the words of Brazilian tupinol ...

'' —

)

Legacy

The city of Gonçalves Dias, founded in 1958, has this name because its territory formerly belonged to the city of Caxias, Dias' hometown. A river in Paraná is named after him, as well as many public squares and streets all over Brazil.

References

External links

Gonçalves Dias' biography at the official site of the Brazilian Academy of Letters
* *
Poems by Gonçalves Dias

Complete works of Gonçalves Dias

Works of Gonçalves Dias on Tupi and the Nheengatu
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dias, Goncalves 1823 births 1864 deaths 19th-century Brazilian poets Romantic poets Brazilian male poets Epic poets Brazilian ethnographers University of Coimbra alumni Brazilian folklorists People from Caxias, Maranhão Portuguese-language writers Deaths due to shipwreck at sea Brazilian monarchists Accidental deaths in Brazil Patrons of the Brazilian Academy of Letters 19th-century Brazilian dramatists and playwrights Brazilian male dramatists and playwrights 19th-century Brazilian male writers 19th-century Brazilian lawyers