Teófilo Odorico Dias de Mesquita (November 8, 1854 – March 29, 1889) was a Brazilian poet, journalist and lawyer, nephew of the famous Romantic author

Gonçalves Dias Antônio Gonçalves Dias (; August 10, 1823 – November 3, 1864) was a Brazilian Romantic poet, playwright, ethnographer, lawyer and linguist. A major exponent of Brazilian Romanticism and of the literary tradition known as " Indianism", he ...

. He is the patron of the 36th chair of the

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

. The literary critic

Alfredo Bosi Alfredo Bosi (26 August 1936 – 7 April 2021) was a Brazilian History, historian, literary critic, and professor. He was a member of the Academia Brasileira de Letras (''Brazilian Academy of Letters''), occupying Chair number 12. One of his most ...

considers his 1882 work ''Fanfarras'' to have launched the Parnassian movement in Brazilian literature.

Life

Teófilo Dias was born in 1854, to Odorico Antônio de Mesquita and Joana Angélica Dias de Mesquita (who was the sister of poet

). His initial schooling happened in São Luís, at the Instituto de Humanidades. Moving to

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 ...

, he was lodged in a convent for two years (1875–1876) and prepared to ingress at a

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

course. In Rio, he met many influential people, such as

Alberto de Oliveira Antônio Mariano Alberto 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, he comprised the B ...

Artur de Oliveira Artur is a cognate to the common male given name Arthur meaning "bear-like", or “of honour”. It is believed to possibly be descended from the Roman surname Artorius or the Celtic bear-goddess Artio or more probably from the Celtic word ''a ...

Aluísio Azevedo Aluísio Tancredo Gonçalves de Azevedo (; 14 April 1857 – 21 January 1913) was a Brazilian novelist, caricaturist, diplomat, playwright and short story writer. Initially a Romantic writer, he would later adhere to the Naturalist movement. He ...

Benjamin Constant Botelho de Magalhães Benjamin Constant Botelho de Magalhães (18 October 1836 – 22 January 1891) was a Brazilian military officer and political thinker. Primarily a positivist, influenced heavily by Auguste Comte, he was the founder of the positivist movement in ...

José do Patrocínio José Carlos do Patrocínio (9 October 1854 – 29 January 1905) was a Brazilian writer, journalist, activist, orator and pharmacist. He was among the most well-known proponents of the abolition of slavery in Brazil, and known as "''Tigre da Abo ...

and

Joaquim Maria 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 ...

. In 1881, he finished the Law course at the Faculdade de Direito da Universidade de São Paulo. As a journalist, he wrote for the newspapers ''A Província de São Paulo'', ''A República'' and

José Veríssimo José Veríssimo Dias de Matos (8 April 1857 – 2 December 1916) was a writer, educator, journalist, literary critic, and founding member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters. Biography José Veríssimo was born in Óbidos, Pará, the son of Jos ...

's ''Revista Brasileira''. He was also a teacher of Philosophic Grammar and

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

in Colégio Aquino. He married Gabriela Frederica Ribeiro de Andrada, a daughter of

Martim Francisco Ribeiro de Andrada Martim Francisco Ribeiro de Andrada (9 April 1775 – 23 February 1844) was a Brazilian politician who played a leading role in the declaration of Brazil's independence and in the government the following years. He was twice Minister of Finance ...

, the brother of famous statesman

José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva (; 13 June 17636 April 1838) was a Brazilian statesman, naturalist, mineralist, professor and poet, born in Santos, São Paulo, then part of the Portuguese Empire. He was one of the most important mentors ...

. He had with her two children. He became a deputy in 1885, remaining in the post until the following year. He died in 1889.

Criticism

José Veríssimo, in "História da Literatura Brasileira", records that "The romantic inspiration so consonant with our literary nature, as we can see, had not totally faded away under the influence of the new poetics. Not only is it still visible in those poems, but in two new poets who appeared around this time, Mr. Alberto de Oliveira, who would become perhaps the most typical of our parnasians, and the ill-fated Teófilo Dias. Both the romantic Songs of the former, and the Lira dos verdes anos and Cantos tropicais of the latter are from 1878, and in both, mixed with the general tone of our romantic lyricism, there are clear touches of the new poetics." Manuel Bandeira, in turn, points out: "The Parnassian aesthetic crystallized among us after the publication of 'Fanfarras', by Teófilo Dias, a book in which the anti-Romantic movement begins to define itself in the spirit and form of the French Parnassians, already sketched in some sonnets by Carvalho Júnior...". The work "Fanfarras" is really considered the most important of his production, especially for the milestone of literary rupture, as also emphasized by Antônio Cândido: "despite the numerical predominance in his work of verses of romantic inspiration, translations and social poetry, its validity is due, today, to the poems of the first part of Fanfarras, significantly entitled 'Flores Funestas'."

Works

* ''Flores e Amores'' (

1874 Events January * January 1 – New York City annexes The Bronx. * January 2 – Ignacio María González becomes head of state of the Dominican Republic for the first time. * January 3 – Third Carlist War: Battle of Caspe &n ...

) * ''Cantos Tropicais'' (

1878 Events January * January 5 – Russo-Turkish War: Battle of Shipka Pass IV – Russian and Bulgarian forces defeat the Ottoman Empire. * January 9 – Umberto I becomes King of Italy. * January 17 – Russo-Turkish War: ...

) * ''Lira dos Verdes Anos'' (

) * ''Fanfarras'' (

1882 Events January * January 2 ** The Standard Oil Trust is secretly created in the United States to control multiple corporations set up by John D. Rockefeller and his associates. ** Irish-born author Oscar Wilde arrives in New York at the ...

) * ''A Comédia dos Deuses'' (

1888 Events January * January 3 – The great telescope (with an objective lens of diameter) at Lick Observatory in California is first used. * January 12 – The Schoolhouse Blizzard hits Dakota Territory and the states of Montana, M ...

)

References

;Footnotes ;Bibliography *

External links

Three poems by Teófilo Dias

* ttp://www.academia.org.br/abl/cgi/cgilua.exe/sys/start.htm?sid=326 Teófilo Dias' biography at the official site of the Brazilian Academy of Letters 1854 births 1889 deaths 19th-century Brazilian poets Brazilian journalists People from Caxias, Maranhão Portuguese-language writers Patrons of the Brazilian Academy of Letters Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Empire of Brazil) 19th-century journalists Brazilian male journalists Brazilian male poets 19th-century Brazilian male writers {{Brazil-writer-stub