Sebastião Cícero Guimarães Passos (1867-1909) was a Brazilian journalist and poet. He was born in

Maceió Maceió (), formerly sometimes Anglicised as Maceio, is the capital and the largest city of the coastal state of Alagoas, Brazil. The name "Maceió" is an Indigenous term for a spring. Most maceiós flow to the sea, but some get trapped and form la ...

, the son of Major Tito Alexandre Ferreira Passos and Rita Vieira Guimarães Passos. He did his primary and preparatory studies in

Alagoas Alagoas (, ) is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil and is situated in the eastern part of the Northeast Region. It borders: Pernambuco (N and NW); Sergipe (S); Bahia (SW); and the Atlantic Ocean (E). Its capital is the city of Maceió. It ...

. At the age of 19 he went to Rio de Janeiro, where he joined the young bohemians of the time. He started writing for papers such as '' Gazeta da Tarde'', '' Gazeta de Notícias'', ''

A Semana ''A Semana'' (Portuguese meaning "The Week") is a Cape Verdean daily that covers its top stories in the archipelago and local stories ranging from each island. ''A Semana'' is located in the Cape Verdean capital city of Praia and is one of the mos ...

'', both under his own name and under a variety of pseudonyms. He was associated with other contemporary figures such as Paula Ney,

Olavo Bilac Olavo Brás Martins dos Guimarães Bilac (16 December 1865 – 28 December 1918), known simply as Olavo Bilac (), was a Brazilian Parnassianism, Parnassian poet, journalist and translator. Alongside Alberto de Oliveira and Raimundo Correia, he w ...

Coelho Neto Henrique Maximiano Coelho Neto (February 21, 1864 – November 28, 1934) was a Brazilian writer and politician. He founded and occupied the second chair of the Brazilian Academy of Letters, from 1897 until his death in 1934. He was also the pre ...

José do Patrocínio José Carlos do Patrocínio (October 9, 1854 – January 29, 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 "O Tigre da Ab ...

Luís Murat Luís Morton Barreto Murat was a Brazilian journalist, poet, philosopher and politician. He was born in Itaguaí on 4 May 1861 and died in Rio de Janeiro on 3 July 1929. He was a founding member of the Academia Brasileira and was the first occupan ...

and

Artur Azevedo Artur Nabantino Gonçalves de Azevedo (7 July 1855 – 22 October 1908) was a Brazilian playwright, short story writer, chronicler, journalist and Parnassianism, Parnassian poet. He is famous for consolidating in Brazil the "comedy of manners" ge ...

. He also worked as an archivist at the Imperial House. With the proclamation of the

Brazilian Republic Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area an ...

, he lost his job and began to live solely off his journalistic work. When the Revolta de Armada kicked off in September 1893, he joined the movement. He was part of the revolutionary government installed in Paraná, and fought against

Floriano Peixoto Floriano Vieira Peixoto ( 30 April 1839 – 29 June 1895), born in Ipioca (today a district of the city of Maceió in the State of Alagoas), nicknamed the "Iron Marshal", was a Brazilian soldier and politician, a veteran of the Paraguay ...

. Afterwards he went into exile in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

for 18 months. There he wrote for the newspapers ''

La Nación ''La Nación'' () is an Argentine daily newspaper. As the country's leading conservative newspaper, ''La Nación''s main competitor is the more liberal '' Clarín''. It is regarded as a newspaper of record for Argentina. Its motto is: "''La Nac ...

'' and ''

La Prensa ''La Prensa'' ("The Press") is a frequently used name for newspapers in the Spanish-speaking world. It may refer to: Argentina * ''La Prensa'' (Buenos Aires) * , a current publication of Caleta Olivia, Santa Cruz Bolivia * ''La Prensa'' (La Paz ...

'' and held events on literary topics related to Brazil. In 1896, back from exile, he was one of the first poets called to form the

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

. He chose as his patron another bohemian, the poet

Laurindo Rabelo Laurindo José da Silva Rabelo (July 8, 1826 – September 28, 1864) was a Brazilian Ultra-Romantic poet, teacher and medician. Famous for his '' lundu'' lyrics and satires, he won the epithet of "the Brazilian Bocage", and, because of his physic ...

. His former contemporaries had by now moved on, although Passos remained true to his bohemian ideals. He fell ill with tuberculosis and, failing to improve in Brazil, left for the island of

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

and, from there, to Paris, where he died in 1909. Only in 1921 did the Brazilian Academy manage to have his remains transferred to the Brazil. They arrived accompanied by those of

Raimundo Correia Raimundo da Mota de Azevedo Correia (May 13, 1859 – September 13, 1911) was a Brazilian Parnassian poet, judge and magistrate. Alongside Alberto de Oliveira and Olavo Bilac, he was a member of the "Parnassian Triad". He founded and occupied th ...

, who had also died in Paris in 1911. A Parnassian poet, Guimarães Passos was also a humorist in his writings for '' O Filhote'', later collected in the book ''Pimentões'', which he published in partnership with Olavo Bilac. His poetry was also praised by critics such as

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 José ...

References

{{reflist Brazilian poets 1867 births 1909 deaths People from Maceió