Olavo Bilac

Bilac was born in Rio de Janeiro to Brás Martins dos Guimarães Bilac and Delfina Belmira Gomes de Paula. As a young man, he was a brilliant student, enrolling in the school of medicine at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro at the age of 15.

He began studying medicine, but did not finish the course. He also tried to study law at the Faculdade de Direito da Universidade de São Paulo but did not finish that course either. Instead, he found pleasure in writing and in journalism.

His first work was the sonnet "Sesta de Nero" ("Nero's Nap") in the newspaper Gazeta de Notícias in 1884, which received praise from Artur Azevedo.

Olavo Bilac.

In addition to poetry, Bilac wrote publicitary texts, chronicles, schoolbooks, children's poetry and satirical works. In 1891, he was arrested at the Fortaleza da Laje in Rio de Janeiro for opposing the government of Floriano Peixoto.

In 1897, Bilac lost control of his car, crashing it in a tree. He was the first person to suffer a car accident in Brazil.

Bilac never married and never had children. He was engaged to Amélia de Oliveira, the sister of the poet Alberto de Oliveira, but their engagement was short-lived since it was opposed by another brother of Amélia, who said Bilac had no future. He had an even shorter engagement to Maria Selika, daughter of violinist Francisco Pereira da Costa, but a legend says that Amélia was very faithful to Bilac: she never married, and, when Bilac died, she put a lock of her hair in his coffin.

Bilac died in 1918. His last words were "Give me coffee! I'm going to write!"

Bilac was portrayed by Rui Minharro in the 1999 miniseries Chiquinha Gonzaga, and gives his name to a character portrayed by Carlos Alberto Riccelli in the 2006 film Brasília 18%, directed by Nelson Pereira dos Santos.