Francisca da Silva de Oliveira (–1796), known in history by the name Chica da Silvahttp://dicionarioegramatica.com/2015/12/06/chica-ou-xica-da-silva-o-certo-e-xica-ou-chica-da-silva/ Chica ou Xica da Silva? in: DicionarioeGramatica.com and whose romanticized version/character is also known by the spelling ''Xica da Silva'', was a Brazilian woman who became famous for becoming rich and powerful despite having been born into

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

. Her life has been a source of inspiration for many works in

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

and

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to ...

. She is popularly known as ''the slave who became a queen''. The myth of Chica da Silva is often conflated with the historical accounts of Francisca da Silva de Oliveira.

Biography

Francisca da Silva de Oliveira was a parda woman born in Vila do Príncipe (nowadays Serro), in the north of the state of

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literall ...

, in Brazil between 1730 and 1735. Not unlike many other regions in Brazil, this region's population was slaves outnumbering whites by a large margin. People in the town made a living either through gold or diamond mining. Francisca lived mainly in Arraial do Tijuco (nowadays known as Diamantina) and was the daughter of a Portuguese man, Antônio Caetano de Sá and an enslaved African woman, Maria da Costa, who was probably from the

Gulf of Guinea The Gulf of Guinea is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean from Cape Lopez in Gabon, north and west to Cape Palmas in Liberia. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian (zero degrees latitude and longitude) is i ...

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro) and the 5th-larges ...

. The region of

was unique in that it had a fairly diverse population in comparison to other slave regions on the Brazilian coast, Caribbean, and the United States. Known as "Francisca parda" while enslaved, Francisca's first owner was Domingos da Costa, who was from Milho Verde. After Costa, Francisca was sold to Sergeant Manuel Pires Sardinha, with whom she had her first son, Simão Pires Sardinha. Although Sardinha listed Simão as one of his heirs, Sardinha never officially declared paternity of Simão. Francisca's third master was João Fernandes de Oliveira, a

diamond Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, b ...

mine owner and mining Governor of Arraial do Tijuco, one of the richest persons of

Colonial Brazil Colonial Brazil ( pt, Brasil Colonial) comprises the period from 1500, with the arrival of the Portuguese, until 1815, when Brazil was elevated to a kingdom in union with Portugal as the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Dur ...

. Because Francisca later added "da Silva" as a surname, it is often incorrectly concluded that she was once owned by a José da Silva de Olivera. The name, however, was very common among the Portuguese at the time and offered a fresh start.Júnia Ferrera Furtado, "Chica da Silva: A Brazilian Slave of the Eighteenth Century." Sources suggest that Francisca was granted her

freedom Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving one ...

, either by José da Silva de Oliveira at the request of João Fernandes or that she was given her freedom directly by João Fernandes when he bought her from Pires Sardinha in 1753. After being granted her freedom, Chica officially changed her name to Francisca da Silva de Oliveira in order to erase her history as a slave. This was hugely beneficial for her son Simão Pires Sardinia who later in life was able hide his mothers slave ancestry and his status of being an illegitimate son in order to receive the prestigious Portuguese title knight of the Order of Christ. Francisca and João soon started a relationship. Despite not being officially married, they lived together for several years and had 13 children: Francisca de Paula (1755); João Fernandes (1756); Rita (1757); Joaquim (1759); Antonio Caetano (1761); Ana (1762); Helena (1763); Luiza (1764); Antônia (1765); Maria (1766); Quitéria Rita (1767); Mariana (1769); José Agostinho Fernandes (1770). Soon after, Chica became an independent owner of a house in Tejuco on Opera Street. The house was adorned with many luxuries including an extensive garden, her own personal chapel, and furniture like bathtubs, armoires, mirrors and canopy beds, that were rare to households at the time. Chica was also the owner of many slaves who both helped her in the house and worked in the mines in the region. Chica also presented herself in a very ostentatious manner in order to help differentiate herself from the other mixed people in society. People often showed their status through their material items, which for Chica included her clothing, home, slaves, and change in name. By the end of her life she also included Dona at the beginning of her name for a more prestigious title. In 1770, João Fernandes had to return to Portugal and took along with him the four sons he had with Chica as well as Chica's two other sons Placid Pires Sardinha and Simão Pires Sardinha, who were granted noble titles by the Portuguese court. Their daughters remained with Chica in Brazil and were sent to the then-renowned

Convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Angl ...

of Macaúbas. Even after the departure of João to Portugal, Chica retained her prestige. She was a member of the São Francisco do Carmo Brotherhood (exclusive to whites), Mercês Brotherhood (exclusive to mulattos) and the Rosário Brotherhood (exclusive to Africans). Chica da Silva died in 1796. She was buried at the Church of São Francisco de Assis, a privilege that only wealthy whites enjoyed.

Gender in Colonial Brazil

In eighteenth century Brazil, colonizers and slaves were both overwhelmingly male. Portuguese men had traveled to Brazil alone to seek wealth, as Portuguese women were often banned from migrating. In part due to love affairs and children born between Portuguese men and African and/or mulatta slave women, freed former slaves were predominately female. Stereotypes about non-white women were abundant during the colonial period and while gender, race and color worked together to systemically disadvantage negro women, some individuals—such as Chica—used their perceived hyper-sensuality to invert gender and power relations. Once socially mobile, these women were seen as even more dominant than their masters.

The myth

Chica's legacy was often misused to symbolize Brazil's so called " racial democracy." Currently, however, scholars maintain that she used

miscegenation Miscegenation ( ) is the interbreeding of people who are considered to be members of different races. The word, now usually considered pejorative, is derived from a combination of the Latin terms ''miscere'' ("to mix") and ''genus'' ("race") ...

and her connections as a tool to achieve a higher social status, as did other African Brazilians at the time. Historian Júnia Ferreira Furtado sustains that concubinage and marriage between white male and black female in colonial Brazilian society was a way found by the enslaved to change their social position. João Fernandes and Chica da Silva's relationship was a scandal in colonial Brazilian society. Chica da Silva, formerly enslaved, had become one of the most powerful women in colonial America. Chica was banished from the parish church, which was reserved for Caucasians only. To show the locals Chica's power, João Fernandes built a luxurious church attended just by herself. However, as Furtado discloses, Chica attended brotherhoods exclusive to whites, as a way to try to fit into the status quo and be aware of its schemes against her and her people. Contrary to what was propagated, Chica also owned slaves, and is only known to have freed one of them. Historians view this as the main difference between the experience of Africans in Brazil and their counterparts in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. While in the US, African-American former slaves had a more unified movement, in Brazil they tried to integrate into white society as mixed-race people saw that " whitening" themselves was a way to escape from their slave past. Although slaves didn't have any choice if the master or mistress decided to use them as sex objects, some were able to use the situation, especially in regard to their offspring who were part European. The colonial Portuguese mentality was also more tolerant than the US Anglo-Saxon one on race when it had to do with their mixed-race offspring. Whereas Anglo-Saxon slave holders forced their own race-mixed offspring into slavery and sold them to other masters as well, making a profit from them, Luso-Brazilians generally freed their own mixed-race children and often granted them nobility titles. This happened perhaps because of the lack of Portuguese women that migrated to Brazil.

Works

Xica da Silva ''Xica'' ( pt, Xica da Silva) is a 1976 Brazilian comedy film directed and written by Carlos Diegues, based on the novel by João Felício dos Santos, which is a romanticized retelling of the true story of Chica da Silva,http://dicionarioegra ...

(movie): a film released in 1976, by Cacá Diegues, starring Zezé Motta as Chica da Silva. * Xica da Silva (telenovela): a

telenovela A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar drama genres around the world include '' teleserye'' ...

released in 1996, written by Walcyr Carrasco and directed by Walter Avancini. It has been successful in several countries around the world. Starring as Xica da Silva, the actress

Taís Araújo Taís Bianca Gama de Araújo (; born 25 November 1978) is a Brazilian actress, TV host and model. Her first prominent role on television was in 1996 as protagonist of the Brazilian telenovela '' Xica da Silva'' by Walcyr Carrasco, in the Rede M ...

was the first black Brazilian to be the protagonist of a

soap-opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored b ...

. She is still the only black actress to be the protagonist of a telenovela on Brazilian TV History. She also played a protagonist again in

Rede Globo TV Globo (, "Globe TV", or simply Globo), formerly known as Rede Globo, is a Brazilian free-to-air television network, launched by media proprietor Roberto Marinho on 26 April 1965. It is owned by media conglomerate Grupo Globo. The TV stati ...

Da Cor do Pecado ''Da Cor do Pecado'' (English title: ''Shades of Sin'') is a Brazilian telenovela produced and broadcast by TV Globo in the traditional 7pm timeslot between 26 January and 28 August 2004 with a total of 185 episodes, replacing ''Kubanacan'' and p ...

.Entrevista: Taís Araújo é novo referencial na telinha
*

, a song by

Jorge Ben Jorge Duílio Lima Menezes (born March 22, 1939) is a Brazilian popular musician, performing under the stage name Jorge Ben Jor since the 1980s, though commonly known by his former stage name Jorge Ben (). His characteristic style fuses samba, ...

on his 1976 album

África Brasil ''África Brasil'' is a 1976 release by Brazilian artist Jorge Ben, recording at the time as Jorge Ben. It was Ben's 14th studio album. ''África Brasil'' represented a milestone in Ben's career with Ben's switch to electric guitar and incorporati ...

*Chica da Silva. a song by

Boney M Boney M. was a German-Caribbean vocal group that specialized in disco and funk created by German record producer Frank Farian, who was the group's primary songwriter. Originally based in West Germany, the four original members of the group's o ...

from the 1985 album Eye Dance

References

External links