Zumbi dos Palmares

Zumbi was the great leader of the mocambos of Palmares in the seventeenth century. His origin and life story are still shrouded in narratives based on the scarce historical records found in the sources of the time. It seems that Zumbi was born in one of the quilombos located in Serra da Barriga, then part of the Captaincy of Pernambuco, in the present-day state of Alagoas. He was taken to the village of Porto Calvo as a child, baptized as Francisco and educated by a priest. In the early 1670s, he fled to the mocambos of Palmares. In 1674, he was elected “maioral” (chieftain), then “cabo maior” (corporal major) and, in 1677, he became “General of Arms.” Zumbi was executed on November 20, 1695.