Tereza de Benguela

The enslaved African woman Tereza de Benguela arrived in Brazil around 1730 and was taken to work in the mining areas of the Captaincy of Mato Grosso. She fled to the mocambos (quilombos) that had existed in the region since the 1740s. In 1770, there was a great persecution and more than 100 quilombolas were captured. Descriptions of the mocambo’s organization reveal Tereza as the queen of the Quariterê quilombo. However, she was eventually captured and committed suicide in prison.