Antônio Lemos Barbosa (15 September 1910 – 5 September 1970) was a Brazilian priest, notably recognized for his contributions to Tupinology, that is, the study of

Old Tupi 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 ...

. Barbosa was born on 15 September 1910, in

Três Corações Três Corações () is a municipality in the south of Minas Gerais state in Brazil. As of 2020, the city population was estimated at 80,032, making it one of the largest cities in the south of Minas Gerais. The city is geographically located close ...

, Minas Gerais, being the second of four children. His father, Luís Barbosa, was a teacher at the house of his grandfather; there, Luís met Júlia Lemos Barbosa (). Júlia died when Barbosa was 11 years old, during the birth of the couple's fifth child, who also died. Barbosa pursued studies for seven years at the

Gregorian University Pontifical Gregorian University (; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana), is a private pontifical university in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as a part of the Roman College, founded in 1551 by Ignatius of Loyola, and included all ...

in Rome, where he earned doctoral degrees in Philosophy and Theology. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

priest by Marchetti Selvaggiani on 25 July 1934. Barbosa celebrated his first

Low Mass Low Mass (Latin ''Missa Privata'') is a Mass celebrated by a priest without the assistance of sacred ministers (deacon and subdeacon). Before the 1969 reforms, a sub-distinction was also made between the '' sung Mass'' (), when the celebrant sti ...

in the

Catacombs of Domitilla The Catacombs of Domitilla are an underground Christian cemetery named after the Domitilla family that had initially ordered them to be dug. Located in Rome, Italy, are the human-made subterranean passageways used for cemeteries and religious prac ...

, and his first High Mass at the . Barbosa served as professor of

Ethnography Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. It explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining ...

and

Indigenous Languages An indigenous language, or autochthonous language, is a language that is native to a region and spoken by its indigenous peoples. Indigenous languages are not necessarily national languages but they can be; for example, Aymara is both an indigeno ...

at the

Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro The Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (; PUC-Rio) is a Jesuit, Catholic, pontifical university in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the joint responsibility of the Catholic Archdiocese of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro and the So ...

(PUC-Rio). In 1956, he published the work (), which received favorable reviews from contemporary critics. , for instance, declared the work constituted a "didactic revolution". It is considered that the work contains "interesting insights", but also that one of its weaknesses lies in the made-up, non-attested examples; it is deemed more reasonable that the description of a

dead language An extinct language or dead language is a language with no living native speakers. A dormant language is a dead language that still serves as a symbol of ethnic identity to an ethnic group; these languages are often undergoing a process of re ...

contains only attested examples. Barbosa died on 5 September 1970, after being hospitalized for two months at .

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1910 births 1970 deaths 20th-century Brazilian Roman Catholic priests Academic staff of the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro People from Três Corações Pontifical Gregorian University alumni Tupi language {{Brazil-bio-stub