Lessa (Father António João de)
Original title: Lessa (Padre António João de)
Biography of a Madeiran priest, born in Madalena do Mar, who emigrated to Brazil in 1808, settled at Cantagalo and became a politician involved in Brazilian independence.
This priest was born in the parish (freguesia) of Madalena do Mar (‘Magdalene by the sea’) on 1 June 1774 and died in the city of Rio de Janeiro on 12 April 1858. He left for Brazil in 1808, already ordained a priest, and settled in the then newly founded settlement of Cantagalo, which within a few years grew considerably and became the city of the same name. Father Lessa devoted himself to politics and contributed a great deal to the independence of Brazil. He was a deputy in two legislatures and enjoyed the highest prestige among the politicians of his day. Several Brazilian writers refer to his persistent role in the events that preceded independence and also in the political struggles that followed. He left a printed book entitled Cartas de Cantagalo. In 1929 his nephew Clado Ribeiro de Lessa wrote and published a 160-page volume entitled Esboço Biográfico do Padre António João de Lessa, which describes the eventful life of this Madeiran priest.
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 04Place
Places mentioned · 04
Abroad
- Brazil
Country to which Padre Lessa emigrated and where he was active politically.
Brazil is recorded in the Elucidário as a chief destination of Madeiran emigrants, including several clergy and writers. It was also a market for Madeira wine and brandy and a maker of wickerwork from Madeiran osiers. It was linked to Madeira by the 1874 telegraph cable and is the native country of the araçá.
- Cantagalo
Brazil. Brazilian settlement where Padre Lessa lived and which grew into a city.
Brazilian settlement where Padre Lessa lived and which grew into a city.
- Madalena do Mar
Ponta do Sol. Birthplace of Padre Lessa.
Madalena do Mar is a parish on the south-west coast of Madeira, in the municipality of Ponta do Sol, founded on the estate of the legendary Henrique Alemão and made an independent parish in 1582. The Elucidário records its chapels, sugar and banana farming, its capitania-mor, damage in the 1876 floods and the 1939 flood of the Ribeira da Madalena, and it was the birthplace of António Policarpo dos Passos Sousa.
- Rio de Janeiro
Brazil. City where Padre Lessa died.
Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil, appears in the Elucidário as the seat of the Portuguese court and as a city where many Madeirans lived, studied, taught, published and died. Among them were Paulo Perestrelo da Câmara, João de Oliveira Sá Camelo Lampreia and João da Silveira Caldeira, who headed the Mint there.
People
People mentioned · 02- António João de Lessa1774–1858
Madeiran priest (1774–1858) who emigrated to Brazil, served two terms as deputy and contributed to Brazilian independence; author of Cartas de Cantagalo.
-
Nephew of Padre António João de Lessa who published a biographical sketch of him in 1929.