Sousa Caldas

Antônio Pereira de Sousa Caldas (November 24, 1762 – March 2, 1814) was a Colonial Brazilian poet, priest and orator, patron of the 34th chair of the Brazilian Academy of Letters.

Sousa Caldas was born in 1762, to Portuguese merchant Luís Pereira de Sousa and Ana Maria de Sousa. Since he was a small boy, he had a vocation for Letters, and, with only 8 years old, he was sent to Lisbon, to live under the care of an uncle. With 16 years old, he ingressed in the University of Coimbra, where he learnt Mathematics and Canon law.

In 1781, he was arrested by the Inquisition because of his ideals, influenced by the Enlightenment. Transferred to the convent of Rilhafoles, he was catechized for six months. After the catechism, he became a fully different person, discovering his sacerdotal vocation. However, he did not abandoned his philosophical and satirical poetry, writing the poem Ode ao Homem Natural in 1784. It is attributed to him the satire O Reino da Estupidez.

After graduating in the Canon law course in 1789, he travelled to France and Genoa. In Genoa, he wrote the ode A Criação and abandoned the satirical poetry.

In 1801, he returns to Rio de Janeiro in order to visit his mother, settling permanently in the town. During his final years in Rio, he wrote many letters for his friends, but only five of them exist today.

He died in 1814.

• Ode ao Homem Natural (1784)
• A Criação (1790)
• Poesias Sacras e Profanas (anthology of poems compiled by Francisco de Borja Garção Stockler and published posthumously in 1820)