Estácio de Sá (1520 – 20 February 1567) was a Portuguese

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a Conscription, conscripted or volunteer Enlisted rank, enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, a warrant officer, or an Officer (armed forces), officer. Etymology The wo ...

and officer. Sá travelled to the colony of Brazil on the orders of the Portuguese crown to wage war on the French colonists commanded by Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon. These French colonists had established themselves in 1555 at Guanabara Bay 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 ...

, in a settlement known as '' France Antarctique''. He was the founder of

, now the second largest city in Brazil.

Biography

Born in Santarém,

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 ...

in 1520, Estácio de Sá was the nephew of the Governor General of the colony of Brazil, Mem de Sá. He arrived with two

galleon Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships developed in Spain and Portugal. They were first used as armed cargo carriers by Europe, Europeans from the 16th to 18th centuries during the Age of Sail, and they were the principal vessels dr ...

s at

Salvador, Bahia Salvador () is a Municipalities of Brazil, Brazilian municipality and capital city of the Federative units of Brazil, state of Bahia. Situated in the Zona da Mata in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of Brazil, Salvador is recognize ...

, in 1564. In 1565, after extensive preparations and the help of

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

, such as Manuel da Nóbrega and José de Anchieta, he departed by sea from São Vicente, São Paulo, the first Portuguese settlement in Brazil, with an attack force. On March 1, he founded the city of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro near the Sugarloaf Mountain and established the basis of his military operations against the French and their Indigenous allies. After receiving reinforcements sent by sea by his uncle from Salvador, Sá commanded a definitive and successful attack on the fortification of Uruçú-mirim on 20 January 1567. He died on 20 February 1567 of wounds inflicted by an arrow which had perforated his eye. Sá was interred in the church of Saint Sebastian in the encampment he had founded. As the city of Rio de Janeiro grew, his remains were relocated to a new church of Saint Sebastian in the Castelo. His remains were rediscovered in 1839 by several scholars working for Emperor Pedro II, and, in 1862, when the church was being rebuilt, some of his bones were exhumed in the presence of the emperor and placed in a "worthy urn".

Legacy

As the founder of Rio de Janeiro, Estácio de Sá is honored by the names of many locations and institutions in Brazil. A brief list follows: * the Estácio neighborhood in the city of Rio de Janeiro; * the Rio samba school, '' Grêmio Recreativo Escola de Samba Estácio de Sá'', usually referred to as simply ''Estácio de Sá''. Rio is one of the cradles of

samba Samba () is a broad term for many of the rhythms that compose the better known Brazilian music genres that originated in the Afro-Brazilians, Afro Brazilian communities of Bahia in the late 19th century and early 20th century, It is a name or ...

, the popular music of Brazil; * the Universidade Estácio de Sá, one of the three largest private universities of Brazil; * the Universidade Estácio de Sá Futebol Clube, a football club owned by the above university.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sa, Estacio 1520 births 1567 deaths People from Santarém, Portugal Portuguese military personnel killed in action Portuguese soldiers People of Colonial Brazil Deaths by arrow wounds Portuguese colonial governors and administrators 16th-century Portuguese military personnel Portuguese city founders