Manuel da Nobrega

Manuel da Nobrega on a postage stamp

Padre Manuel da Nobrega (born October 18, 1517 in the district of Porto , Portugal , † October 18, 1570 in Rio de Janeiro , Brazil ) was an important Portuguese theologian, priest, missionary and writer. From 1553 to 1559 he was a general of the Jesuits in Brazil. He went down in world history as a co-founder of São Paulo , Rio de Janeiro and Salvador da Bahia .

Life

Manuel da Nobrega was born in a small town in northern Portugal, in what is now the Porto district. While his date of birth is considered certain, the place of birth is not. His father was Baltasar da Nobrega. In Porto, Manuel da Nobrega devoted himself to Studia humanitatis , after which he switched to the canonical (theological) faculty of the University of Salamanca , where he studied canon law and philosophy between 1534 and 1538 , and then moved to the University of Coimbra , where he finished his studies in 1541 and graduated. He then worked as a missionary in northern Portugal, Galicia and Spain .

On November 21, 1544 he joined the Jesuit order and was ordained a priest. In 1549 he accompanied an expedition of the Governor General Tome de Souza , which landed on February 29, 1549 in the bay of today's Salvador de Bahia. Souza was a good friend of Nobrega. That year, Nobrega and others laid the foundations for Salvador de Bahia. In 1554 he founded one of the first Jesuit colleges on American soil in Piratiniga . This was the starting point for the establishment of the city of São Paulo, whose founder Nobrega is generally considered. In 1563 he was involved in founding the city of Rio de Janeiro. There he founded another college, which he headed as rector. At the side of the governor Mem de Sá he fought against the invasion of the French with sermons. At the colonial government, he advocated forbidding the natives to eat human flesh. Nobrega was from 1553 to 1559 the first general of the Jesuits in Brazil and thus in America. He should have been again in 1570, but died before his appointment.

He was a college friend and missionary brother of José de Anchieta , who once said in a script that Nobrega was his best friend and they were like brothers.

meaning

Nobrega is considered to be the second discoverer of Brazil. His writings contributed immeasurably to the understanding of Brazil as a new colony of Portugal, as he dealt with questions such as morality and behavior towards the natives, but also towards the whites among themselves. Thus he wrote the first classical sociological and anthropological studies on Brazil. He tried to protect the Indians with some of his writings and became one of their defenders and advocates. Alongside António Vieira , he is considered to be one of the most important Jesuits who ever worked in Brazil. He is also considered an important figure in Portugal and Brazil in the 16th century. He went down in world history by participating in the founding of three of the most important cities in Brazil. The British writer Robert Southey called him the " greatest political figure in the colonial era of Brazil ".

Honors

Numerous posthumous honors were given by the Portuguese and Brazilian states: streets in Lisbon and São Paulo are named after him, in Brazil several schools. Both countries have already produced stamps with the likeness Nobregas out on the anniversary of the founding of São Paulo.

Works

Cartas do Brasil (Letters from Brazil), 1549–1570, letters.
Dialogos sobre a conversacao do gentio, 1554, one of the first prose works in Brazil.
Informacoes dos coisas da terra e neccesidade que ha para a se procedor nela, 1558.
Tratado contra a Antropfagia e contra os cristaos seculares e eclesasticos que a formenta ea conseitam, 1559, tract.
Caso de consciencia para a liberdade dos indios (The Cases of Restricting Indigenous Freedom), 1567.

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personal data
SURNAME	Nobrega, Manuel there
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Portuguese Jesuit, theologian, priest, missionary, writer
DATE OF BIRTH	October 18, 1517
PLACE OF BIRTH	Porto District , Portugal
DATE OF DEATH	October 18, 1570
Place of death	Rio de Janeiro , Brazil