Olavo Brás Martins dos Guimarães Bilac (16 December 1865 – 28 December 1918), known simply as Olavo Bilac (), was a Brazilian Parnassian poet, journalist and translator. Alongside

Alberto de Oliveira Antônio Mariano de Oliveira (April 28, 1857 – January 19, 1937) was a Brazilian poet, pharmacist and professor. He is better known by his pen name Alberto de Oliveira. Alongside Olavo Bilac and Raimundo Correia Raimundo da Mota de Azevedo ...

and

Raimundo Correia Raimundo da Mota de Azevedo Correia (May 13, 1859 – September 13, 1911) was a Brazilian Parnassian poet, judge and magistrate. Alongside Alberto de Oliveira and Olavo Bilac, he was a member of the "Parnassian Triad". He founded and occupied th ...

, he was a member of the "Parnassian Triad". He was elected the "Prince of Brazilian Poets" in 1907 by the magazine '' Fon-Fon''. He wrote the lyrics of the

Brazilian Flag Anthem The "Brazilian Flag Anthem" ( pt, Hino à Bandeira Nacional, link=no, italic=no, "Hymn to the National Flag") is a Brazilian patriotic song dedicated to the national flag of Brazil. History The song's lyrics were written by poet Olavo Bilac, a ...

. He founded and occupied the 15th chair of the

Brazilian Academy of Letters The Academia Brasileira de Letras (ABL) ( English: ''Brazilian Academy of Letters'') is a Brazilian literature, literary non-profit society established at the end of the 19th century. The first president, Machado de Assis, declared its found ...

from 1897 until his death in 1918. He is also the patron of the military service in Brazil due to his campaigns in favor of

conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

Life

Bilac was born in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

to Brás Martins dos Guimarães Bilac and Delfina Belmira Gomes de Paula. As a young man, he was a brilliant student, enrolling in the school of medicine at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro at the age of 15. He began studying medicine, but did not finish the course. He also tried to study law at the Faculdade de Direito da Universidade de São Paulo but did not finish that course either. Instead, he found pleasure in writing and in

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...

. His first work was the

sonnet A sonnet is a poetic form that originated in the poetry composed at the Court of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the Sicilian city of Palermo. The 13th-century poet and notary Giacomo da Lentini is credited with the sonnet's invention, ...

"Sesta de Nero" ("

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 un ...

's Nap") in the newspaper ''Gazeta de Notícias'' in 1884, which received praise from

Artur Azevedo Artur Nabantino Gonçalves de Azevedo (7 July 1855 – 22 October 1908) was a Brazilian playwright, short story writer, chronicler, journalist and Parnassianism, Parnassian poet. He is famous for consolidating in Brazil the "comedy of manners" ge ...

. In addition to poetry, Bilac wrote publicitary texts, chronicles, schoolbooks, children's poetry and satirical works. In 1891, he was arrested at the Fortaleza da Laje in Rio de Janeiro for opposing the government of Floriano Peixoto. In 1897, Bilac lost control of his

car A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as ...

, crashing it in a tree. He was the first person to suffer a car accident in Brazil. Bilac never married and never had children. He was engaged to Amélia de Oliveira, the sister of the poet

, but their engagement was short-lived since it was opposed by another brother of Amélia, who said Bilac had no future. He had an even shorter engagement to Maria Selika, daughter of violinist Francisco Pereira da Costa, but a legend says that Amélia was very faithful to Bilac: she never married, and, when Bilac died, she put a lock of her hair in his coffin. Bilac died in 1918. His last words were "Give me coffee! I'm going to write!"

Bibliography

* ''Poesias'' (1888) * ''O Esqueleto'' (1890 — in partnership with

Pardal Mallet João Carlos de Medeiros Pardal Mallet (December 9, 1864 – November 24, 1894) was a Brazilian journalist and novelist. He is the patron of the 30th chair of the Brazilian Academy of Letters. Life Mallet was born in the city of Bagé, in Rio Gr ...

) * ''Crônicas e Novelas'' (1894) * ''Crítica e Fantasia'' (1904) * ''Conferências Literárias'' (1906) * ''Tratado de Versificação'' (1910 — in partnership with

Guimarães Passos Sebastião Cícero Guimarães Passos (1867-1909) was a Brazilian journalist and poet. He was born in Maceió, the son of Major Tito Alexandre Ferreira Passos and Rita Vieira Guimarães Passos. He did his primary and preparatory studies in Alagoas. ...

) * ''Dicionário de Rimas'' (1913 — in partnership with

) * ''Ironia e Piedade'' (1916) Bilac also translated, into Portuguese, Wilhelm Busch's ''

Max and Moritz ''Max and Moritz: A Story of Seven Boyish Pranks'' (original: ''Max und Moritz – Eine Bubengeschichte in sieben Streichen'') is a German language illustrated story in verse. This highly inventive, blackly humorous tale, told entirely in rhym ...

'' as ''As Travessuras de Juca e Chico'' (''Juca and Chico's Pranks'').

Popular culture

Bilac was portrayed by Rui Minharro in the 1999

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

''Chiquinha Gonzaga'', and gives his name to a character portrayed by Carlos Alberto Riccelli in the 2006 film ''Brasília 18%'', directed by Nelson Pereira dos Santos.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bilac, Olavo 1865 births 1918 deaths Brazilian male poets Brazilian translators Brazilian journalists Portuguese-language writers Writers from Rio de Janeiro (city) University of São Paulo alumni Members of the Brazilian Academy of Letters Translators to Portuguese 19th-century translators 19th-century Brazilian male writers 19th-century Brazilian poets

Life

Bibliography

Popular culture

References

Further reading

External links