Antônio Gonçalves Teixeira e Sousa


Antônio Gonçalves Teixeira e Sousa was a Brazilian poet, novelist and playwright, whose novel O Filho do Pescador is considered to be the first Romantic novel in Brazil.

Life

Antônio Gonçalves Teixeira e Sousa was born in Cabo Frio, in 1812, to Portuguese Manuel Gonçalves and black Ana Teixeira de Jesus. His family was very poor, what made him quit his studies and become a carpenter. He exercised the profession in Itaboraí, moving then to Rio de Janeiro and later returning to Cabo Frio. In there, he discovered that his four older brothers died, and was alone in the world, with very sparse goods that his father gave to him.
He then decides to return studying. His teacher was the surgeon and poet Inácio Cardoso da Silva, whose poetry was compiled and then published by Sousa.
After concluding his studies, he moves definitely to Rio de Janeiro, dying there in 1861.

Works