Today I'm not writing, or for that matter, working as much as I usually do, because it's a National Holiday here. Amazing how Sao Paulo changes when the rich and upper-middle class evacuate for the beaches, it's peaceful, and actually pleasant, to drive a car around the city.
I felt it incumbent upon me to discover (first), and then pay homage, to the benefactor, of this special day of remembrance in Brasil. His name was Joaquim Jose da Silva Xavier.
Joaquim Jose da Silva Xavier, also known as Tiradentes (Tooth Puller) was the leader of the first organized movement against Portuguese rule in Brasil in 1789. He was born in 1748 near Sao Joao del Rei in Minas Gerais. He was reasonably well educated and worked as a physician, merchant and dentist.
Influenced by the American Revolution and the French Philosophes he organized the Inconfidencia Mineira in Minas Gerais advocating complete independence from Portugal. An attempt by Portuguese officials to collect back taxes (not too different from the collection of tea taxes in the 13 American colonies) touched off the call for the rebellion.
The crown quickly and easily crushed the uprising, jailing the conspirators and brutally executing Tiradentes two years later. At his trial he nobly and eloquently defended the republican cause. He was publicly hanged in Rio on April 21, 1792. To frighten the population into complete submission Portuguese authorities ordered his body to be cut into pieces and to be prominently displayed along posts in city boulevards.
Tiradentes martyrdom made him a national hero. Thirty years after his death the king designate of Portugal declared Brasil's independence and became its first emperor. April 21 is a national holiday.
