Antônio Conselheiro
Antônio Vicente Mendes Maciel , better known as Antônio Conselheiro (Antonio the advisor, born March 13, 1830 in Quixeramobim , Ceará , † September 22, 1897 in Canudos , Bahia ) was a Brazilian social and spiritual leader. He was the central figure in the War of Canudos .
Life
Antônio Maciel grew up in a relatively wealthy family. Therefore, he enjoyed a good education and learned several foreign languages. From the beginning of the 1870s Maciel moved as a traveling preacher through the Sertão and a growing number of followers joined him, with whom he had messianic status. During this time he was nicknamed Conselheiro .
In 1893 he settled with his supporters in the Fazenda Canudos and founded the village of "Belo Monte" there. It then became a center of attraction for many residents of the poverty-stricken area. In Canudos, Antônio Conselheiro rebelled against many measures taken by the young republic. He viewed civil marriage, tax laws, compulsory education and the general census as the work of the devil. The counselor led an ascetic life and was hardly involved in the organizational and military decision-making processes.
The government viewed his movement as a monarchist threat. So it came to the war of Canudos (1896 to 1897), in the course of which the republic sent three unsuccessful military expeditions to Canudos. Only the fourth expedition could a siege of the city begin. The siege made the supply situation catastrophic and Antônio Conselheiro died of dysentery shortly before the final defeat . Belo Monte was destroyed and almost all of the inhabitants were killed.
literature
- Euclides da Cunha: Os Sertões (1902), German: War in the Sertão . Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 2000, ISBN 3-518-39593-9 .
- Dawid Danilo Bartelt: Nation versus hinterland. The Canudos War in Brazil: a Discursive Event (1874–1903) . Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-515-08255-7
(available from Google Books) . - Mario Vargas Llosa: The war at the end of the world . Suhrkamp, Frankfurt / Main 1987, ISBN 978-3-518-37843-4 .
- Robert M. Levine: Vale of Tears. Revisiting the Canudos Massacre in Northeastern Brazil, 1893-1897 . University of California Press 1995, ISBN 0-520-20343-7 .
Movies
- Guerra de Canudos , BRA 1997, directed by Sergio Rezende , with José Wilker in the role of Conselheiros.
Footnotes
- ^ Antônio Conselheiro: "About the Republic" and "Farewell" . In: Anna L. Peterson, Manuel A. Vasquez (eds.): Latin American religions. Histories and documents in context . New York University Press, New York 2008, ISBN 978-0-8147-6731-3 , pp. 148-152.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Conselheiro, Antonio |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Maciel, Antônio Vincente Mendes |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Brazilian spiritual leader |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 13, 1830 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Quixeramobim , Ceará |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 22, 1897 |
| Place of death | Canudos , Bahia |