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Gonçalves Dias | |
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| Born | (1823-08-10)August 10, 1823 |
| Died | November 3, 1864(1864-11-03) (aged 41) Guimarães, Empire of Brazil |
| Occupation | Poet,playwright,folklorist,linguist,ethnographer,lawyer |
| Language | Portuguese |
| Alma mater | University of Coimbra |
| Genre | Poetry,theater play |
| Literary movement | Romanticism |
| Notable works | I-Juca-Pirama Os Timbiras Canção do Exílio Patkull |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 (stillborn) |
| Relatives | João Manuel Gonçalves Dias (father) Vicência Ferreira (mother) Teófilo Dias (nephew) |
| Signature | |
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Antônio Gonçalves Dias (Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation:[ɐ̃ˈtoni.uɡõˈsawvizˈdʒiɐs,ɐ̃ˈtonju-]; August 10, 1823 – November 3, 1864) was a BrazilianRomanticpoet,playwright,ethnographer,lawyer andlinguist. A major exponent ofBrazilian Romanticism and of the literary tradition known as "Indianism", he is famous for writing "Canção do Exílio" (arguably the most well-known poem of Brazilian literature), the shortnarrative poemI-Juca-Pirama, the unfinishedepicOs Timbiras, and many othernationalist andpatriotic poems that would award him posthumously with the title ofnational poet of Brazil. He was also an avid researcher ofNative Brazilian languages and folklore.
He is the patron of the 15th chair of theBrazilian Academy of Letters.
Antônio Gonçalves Dias was born inCaxias on August 10, 1823, to aPortuguese father, João Manuel Gonçalves Dias and acafuza mother, Vicência Ferreira. After completing his studies inLatin,French andPhilosophy, he went in 1838 toPortugal to earn a degree inLaw at theUniversity of Coimbra. There he wrote his most remembered poem, "Canção do exílio". He graduated in 1845 and returned to Brazil in the same year. He went toRio de Janeiro, living there until 1854. There he wrote for newspapers,[1] and began to write thedramaLeonor de Mendonça in 1846 and his first poetry book,Primeiros Cantos, in 1847. It was very well-received, andAlexandre Herculano wrote an article praising it. Dias finished his playLeonor de Mendonça also in 1847, and tried to have it performed at theConservatório de Música do Rio de Janeiro, but the play was not accepted.
In 1848, he wrote two more poetry books:Segundos Cantos andSextilhas de Frei Antão. In 1849 he became professor ofLatin andHistory at theColégio Pedro II. In 1851, he published his last poetry book,Últimos Cantos. In the same year, he travelled toNorthern Brazil, planning to marry 14-year-old Ana Amélia Ferreira do Vale, to whom he dedicated many of his most famous and beautiful love poems, such as "Seus olhos", "Leviana", "Palinódia" and "Retratação". Ana Amélia was the cousin of Alexandre Teófilo de Carvalho Leal, who in his turn was the brother ofAntônio Henriques Leal, a famous Brazilian journalist, writer, medician, biographer and historian known as the "Plutarch ofCantanhede". (Both Alexandre and Antônio were very close friends with Dias, and Antônio would edit Dias' posthumous works in 1875, in 6 volumes.) However, the girl's mother did not allow the marriage, quoting Dias'mestizo origins as a pretext. (This inspired his famous poem "Ainda uma vez – adeus!".) Returning to Rio, he married Olímpia Carolina da Costa later on, having with her astillborn daughter. Dias divorced Olímpia in 1856.
From 1854 to 1858, he went to Europe on special missions for the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, where he studied the state of public instruction in the educational institutions there.[1] In 1856, inLeipzig, he published his three poetry books in a single volume entitledCantos, wrote the first four cantos of the epic poemOs Timbiras (that he would leave unfinished) and also published a dictionary ofOld Tupi. Returning to Brazil in 1860, he founded the magazineGuanabara alongsideJoaquim Manuel de Macedo andManuel de Araújo Porto-Alegre in 1849, and went on expeditions toNegro andMadeira Rivers, as a member of the Scientific Commission of Exploration. In 1862 he returned toRio de Janeiro, but shortly after went to Europe again. In October 1863 he went toLisbon, where he translatedFriedrich Schiller'sThe Bride of Messina and some poems byHeinrich Heine.
After a short stay inFrance, he decided to return to Brazil in 1864, in the shipVille de Boulogne. However, the ship waswrecked on the Bay of Cumã,[2] near the shores of Guimarães,Maranhão. All the passengers but Dias survived the tragedy; he was sleeping in his cabin belowdecks and did not wake up in time to see what was happening; thus he drowned.
Dias had a nephew who was also a poet,Teófilo Dias.
The city ofGonçalves Dias, founded in 1958, has this name because its territory formerly belonged to the city ofCaxias, Dias' hometown. Ariver in Paraná is named after him, as well as many public squares and streets all over Brazil.
| Preceded by New creation |  Brazilian Academy of Letters -Patron of the 15th chair | Succeeded by Olavo Bilac (founder) |
