Voices of the Independence of Brazil

Leopoldina of Habsburg-Lorraine was born in Austria in 1797 and belonged to one of the oldest and most powerful dynasties in Europe. From an early age, she showed an inclination for the natural sciences and spoke 6 languages, including Portuguese. 

Joaquim José da Silva Xavier was born in Minas Gerais in 1746. At the age of 11 he was placed under the guardianship of his godfather, who was a surgeon. He worked on several fronts, but also dedicated himself to pharmaceutical practices and the profession of dentistry, which earned him the nickname Tiradentes (teeth remover).

Dom João VI was born in Lisbon, in 1767. He was one of the key figures in the arrival of the Royal Family to Brazil in 1808, which brought about structural changes in the institutions, commerce, and political activity of Colonial Brazil.

He was born in 1760, in Pernambuco. She transformed her house, in Crato (Ceará), into a meeting place for intellectuals and politicians. Together with her three sons, she participated in the republican conspiracy of 1817.

Born in Salvador (1762), he was a politician and journalist. At the University of Coimbra he graduated in surgery, philosophy and mathematics. In Brazil, he participated in social and political movements such as the Bahia Conjuration (1798), the Pernambuco Revolution (1817), and the Confederation of the Equator (1824).

A native of Recife, Joaquim do Amor Divino Rabelo was ordained a friar by the Carmo Convent and took the surname Caneca in honor of his father. Frei Caneca was a philosopher, journalist and teacher. As chaplain during the Pernambuco Revolution of 1817, he was imprisoned for almost 4 years.

A strong black woman, the Bahian Maria Felipa de Oliveira learned how to defend herself by fighting capoeira. She led a group that guarded the beach to prevent the Portuguese from arriving by sea and organized the shipment of food to those who fought against Portuguese domination.

Born in Bahia, she showed interest in hunting and riding from an early age. Fearless, she joined the military regiment wearing men's clothing and identity in order to face the Portuguese in the War of Independence. 

From a wealthy family, the Bahian Joana Angélica de Jesus received an excellent education and at the age of 20 entered the Order of Saint Clare. In 1821, the year that João VI returned to Portugal, she became the Abbess of the Convent Nossa Senhora da Conceição, in Lapa. 

He was born in Great Britain in 1775. Nicknamed "The Sea Wolf," he had a life filled with adventure. Cochrane was a British naval officer and war hero. He fought in the Napoleonic Wars and was engaged in the Wars of Independence of Chile, Peru, Brazil, and Greece.

The "Patriarch of Independence" was born in Santos, in 1763. He studied law, natural philosophy, chemistry, and mathematics. He was one of the supporters of Dom Pedro I's permanence in Brazil, a decisive fact in the process of Independence.