Gonçalves Dias
Born	Antônio Gonçalves Dias (1823-08-10)August 10, 1823 Caxias, Maranhão, Brazil
Died	November 3, 1864(1864-11-03) (aged 41) Shores of Guimarães, Maranhão, Brazil
Cause of death	Shipwreck
Nationality	Brazilian
Ethnicity	Mestizo
Alma mater	University of Coimbra
Occupation	Poet, playwright
Notable work(s)	I-Juca-Pirama, Os Timbiras, "Canção do exílio"
Influenced by	Almeida Garrett, Alexandre Herculano, António Feliciano de Castilho, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Influenced	Fagundes Varela
Spouse	Olímpia Carolina da Costa
Parents	João Manuel Gonçalves Dias Vicência Ferreira
Relatives	Teófilo Dias (nephew)

Antônio Gonçalves Dias (Portuguese pronunciation: [ɡõˈsawvis ˈdʒiɐs]; August 10, 1823 — November 3, 1864) was a Brazilian Romantic poet, playwright and linguist. A major exponent of the Brazilian Romanticism and of the literary tradition known as "Indianism", he is famous for writing the poem "Canção do exílio", arguably the most well-known poem of the Brazilian literature, the short epic poem I-Juca-Pirama, and many other nationalist and patriotic poems that would later give him the title of national poet of Brazil. He was also an avid researcher of the Brazilian indigenous languages and folklore.

He is the patron of the 15th chair of the Brazilian Academy of Letters.

Biography[link]

Antônio Gonçalves Dias was born in Caxias on August 10, 1823, to Portuguese João Manuel Gonçalves Dias and cafuza Vicência Ferreira. After completing his studies in Latin, French and Philosophy, he went in 1838 to Portugal to earn a degree in Law at the University of Coimbra. There, he got in contact with the Romantic ideals and wrote his critically acclaimed poem "Canção do exílio". He graduated in 1845 and returned to Brazil in the same year. He goes to Rio de Janeiro, living there until 1854. There, he wrote the drama Leonor de Mendonça in 1846 and his first poetry book, Primeiros Cantos, in 1847.

In 1848, he wrote two more poetry books: Segundos Cantos and Sextilhas de Frei Antão. In 1849 he became professor of Latin and History at the Colégio Pedro II. In 1851, he published his last poetry book, Últimos Cantos. In the same year, he travelled to Northern Brazil, planning to marry his lifelong love, 14-year-old Ana Amélia Ferreira do Vale, to whom he dedicated many of his most famous love poems, such as "Seus olhos", "Leviana", "Palinódia" and "Retratação". However, the girl's family did not allow the marriage because of Gonçalves' mestizo descent. (This inspired his famous poem "Ainda uma vez — adeus!".) Returning to Rio disappointed and with his heart broken, he married Olímpia Carolina da Costa later on, having with her a stillborn daughter.

During the period of 1854-1858, he went to Europe on special missions for the Secretary of Foreign Affairs. In 1856, at Leipzig, he published the three Cantos poetry books in one volume, wrote the first four cantos of the epic poem Os Timbiras (that he would leave unfinished) and also published a dictionary of the Tupi language. Returning to Brazil, he founded the magazine Guanabara alongside Joaquim Manuel de Macedo and Manuel de Araújo Porto-alegre in 1849, and went on expeditions to Negro and Madeira Rivers, as a member of the Scientific Commission of Exploration. In 1862, he returned to Rio de Janeiro, but soon went to Europe again, searching for a treatment to his diseases. In October 1863, he went to Lisbon, where he translated Friedrich Schiller's The Bride of Messina and some poems by Heinrich Heine.

After a short stay in France, he decided to return to Brazil in 1864, in the ship "Ville de Boulogne". However, the ship was wrecked on the shores of Guimarães, Maranhão. All the passengers but Dias survived the incident.

From left to right: Dias, Manuel de Araújo Porto-alegre and Gonçalves de Magalhães, on a picture dating from circa 1858

Works[link]

Poetry[link]

• Primeiros Cantos (First Chants — 1847)
• Segundos Cantos (Second Chants — 1848)
• Sextilhas de Frei Antão (Friar Anton's Sextilles — 1848)
• Últimos Cantos (Last Chants — 1851)
• Cantos (Chants — 1856)

Theater[link]

• Patkull (1843)
• Beatriz de Cenci (1845)
• Leonor de Mendonça (1847)
• Boabdul (1850)

Epic poems[link]

• I-Juca-Pirama (1851)
• Os Timbiras (The Timbiras — unfinished, 1856)

Other[link]

• Meditação (Meditation — unfinished, 1850)
• Dicionário da Língua Tupi (A Dictionary of the Tupi Language — 1856)

Trivia[link]

• He was the uncle of Teófilo Dias, who was a poet as well.
• The city of Gonçalves Dias, founded in 1958, has this name because its territory formerly belonged to the city of Caxias, Dias' hometown.

References[link]

• GRIZOSTE, Weberson Fernandes, A dimensão anti-épica de Virgílio e o Indianismo de Gonçalves Dias, Coimbra, CECH,2011.
• Montello, J. Para conhecer melhor Gonçalves Dias. Rio de Janeiro: Block. 1973. 138 p.
• Brait, B. Gonçalves Dias. São Paulo: Nova Cultural. 1988 (Literatura Comentada)

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Gonçalves Dias

Portuguese Wikisource has original text related to this article: Gonçalves Dias (original works in Portuguese)

• Gonçalves Dias' biography at the official site of the Brazilian Academy of Letters (Portuguese)
• Poems by Gonçalves Dias
• Complete works of Gonçalves Dias
• Works of Gonçalves Dias on Tupi and the Nheengatu

Preceded by New creation

Brazilian Academy of Letters - Patron of the 15th chair

Succeeded by Olavo Bilac (founder)