Tito Soares

Tito Soares was enslaved and trafficked from the hinterlands of Central Africa to Brazil when he was about 9 years old. Baptized with the Christian name Tito, he was sold to a powerful farmer in Vila de São Carlos, now Campinas, São Paulo, in 1829. Working as a barber, he gained a great reputation in the “art of healing,” especially during the smallpox epidemic. In 1865, Tito won his and his family’s freedom and became known as Master Tito. Now there is a street named in his honor in Campinas.