Gonçalves Dias

Antônio Gonçalves Dias (Caxias, Maranhão, 1823 – Guimarães, Maranhão, 1864) was a Brazilian poet, playwright and researcher of the Romantic period. The son of a Portuguese merchant and a mixed-race mother, he became a leading figure of Indianism, the literary current that sought to give Brazil a national identity drawn from its Indigenous peoples and landscapes.

He studied Law at the University of Coimbra and graduated in 1845. During his years in Portugal he moved in Romantic literary circles, and it was there that he wrote his best-known poem, Canção do exílio, born of longing for his homeland. Back in Brazil, he settled in Rio de Janeiro, where he taught at the Colégio Pedro II and contributed to newspapers. His love for Ana Amélia Ferreira do Vale, whose family opposed the match because of his mixed ancestry, left a deep mark on his love poetry. Later he travelled to Europe, joined a scientific expedition through northern Brazil and studied Indigenous languages, which shaped his Tupi dictionary.

His work blends intimate lyricism with a patriotic ambition, using simple and musical verse. He died in 1864 after the ship carrying him home to Brazil was wrecked. Today he is regarded as one of the national poets of Brazil, and Canção do exílio remains one of the most recited works in Brazilian literature.