Manuel Antônio de Almeida (November 17, 1831 – November 28, 1861) was a Brazilian

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...

writer, medician and teacher. He is famous for the book '' Memoirs of a Police Sergeant'', written under the

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

Um Brasileiro (). He is the patron of the 28th chair of the Brazilian Academy of Letters.

Biography

Almeida was born in

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 ...

, to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

Antônio de Almeida and Josefina Maria de Almeida. Few things are known about his years of primary studies — although he entered at the Medicine course in 1849, graduating in 1855. Financial difficulties inspired him to dedicate himself to literature and journalism. His '' magnum opus'', '' Memoirs of a Police Sergeant'' (or, in Portuguese, ''Memórias de um Sargento de Milícias''), was initially published in '' feuilleton'' form during the years 1852-1853, in the journal ''Correio Mercantil''. In 1858, he became the administrator of Tipografia Nacional, where he met

Machado de Assis Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis (), often known by his surnames as Machado de Assis, ''Machado,'' or ''Bruxo do Cosme Velho''Vainfas, p. 505. (21 June 1839 – 29 September 1908), was a pioneer Brazilian people, Brazilian novelist, poet, playwr ...

. Trying to enter in the political career, he would go to the city of

Campos dos Goytacazes Campos dos Goytacazes () is a city located in the northern region of Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil, with a population of 483,540 inhabitants. It is the largest city in Rio de Janeiro (state) outside of the Greater Rio de Janeiro metropolitan ar ...

, embarking in the ship ''Hermes'', in order to start his political research. However, the ship wrecked off near the shores of

Macaé Macaé () is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro, 180 km northeast of the state capital. It is the birthplace of the 13th president of Brazil, Washington Luís. Geography Location Macaé is generally consider ...

, and he died in the disaster.

Works

* '' Memoirs of a Police Sergeant'' ( 1852) * ''Dois Amores'' ( theater play — 1861)

References

External links

Almeida's biography at the official site of the Brazilian Academy of Letters
1831 births 1861 deaths Brazilian medical writers Brazilian male writers Brazilian people of Portuguese descent Writers from Rio de Janeiro (city) 19th-century Brazilian writers Portuguese-language writers Patrons of the Brazilian Academy of Letters Deaths due to shipwreck at sea Accidental deaths in Brazil 19th-century Brazilian physicians {{Brazil-writer-stub