João Cândido Felisberto (born in 1880 in Encruzilhada do Sul

Encruzilhada do Sul

-See also:*List of municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul...

, Rio Grande do Sul

Rio Grande do Sul

Rio Grande do Sul is the southernmost state in Brazil, and the state with the fifth highest Human Development Index in the country. In this state is located the southernmost city in the country, Chuí, on the border with Uruguay. In the region of Bento Gonçalves and Caxias do Sul, the largest wine...

, Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, died 1969) was a Brazilian sailor, best known as the leader of the "Revolt of the Whip

Revolt of the Whip

The Revolt of the LashOther names for the mutiny include the "Revolt of the Whip" or the "Revolt against the Lash." , was a 1910 naval incident that occurred in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil...

." In the 1930s, he became an integralist

Brazilian Integralism

Brazilian Integralism was a fascist political movement in Brazil, created on October 1932. Founded and led by Plínio Salgado, a literary figure who was somewhat famous for his participation in the 1922 Modern Art Week, the movement had adopted some characteristics of European mass movements of...

.

Early life

João Cândido Felisberto was born to a poor Afro-Brazilian

Afro-Brazilian

In Brazil, the term "preto" is one of the five categories used by the Brazilian Census, along with "branco" , "pardo" , "amarelo" and "indígena"...

 family. His father and mother were former slaves

Slavery in Brazil

Slavery in Brazil shaped the country's social structure and ethnic landscape. During the colonial epoch and for over six decades after the 1822 independence, slavery was a mainstay of the Brazilian economy, especially in mining, cotton, and sugar cane production.Brazil obtained an estimated 35% of...

. He entered the Brazilian Navy

Brazilian Navy

The Brazilian Navy is a branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces responsible for conducting naval operations. It is the largest navy in Latin America...

 in 1894 at the age of 13.

The conditions for Brazilian sailors at the time were terrible, and being a black, Felisberto suffered even more from the prejudice of his white colleagues in the Brazilian navy. Joao Candido was stationed in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in England for two years during the construction of the dreadnought

Dreadnought

The dreadnought was the predominant type of 20th-century battleship. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's had such an impact when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her were referred to as "dreadnoughts", and earlier battleships became known as pre-dreadnoughts...

 , and it was while experiencing the living conditions and increased freedoms of Newcastle that Felisberto realised how unacceptable conditions in the Brazilian Navy were. In 1910, after a hugely unpopular whipping of a sailor, he led a revolt, known in Brazil as "Revolta da Chibata" ("Revolt of the Whip

Revolt of the Whip

The Revolt of the LashOther names for the mutiny include the "Revolt of the Whip" or the "Revolt against the Lash." , was a 1910 naval incident that occurred in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil...

"). Sailors took control of two Brazilian battleships, Minas Gerais

Brazilian battleship Minas Gerais

Minas Geraes,Pronounced in Portuguese. spelled Minas Gerais in some sources,Geraes was the spelling when the ship was commissioned, but later changes to Portuguese orthography deprecated it in favor of Gerais. was an encouraçado built for the Brazilian Navy...

 and São Paulo

Brazilian battleship Sao Paulo

São Paulo was a dreadnought battleship designed for the Brazilian Navy by the British company Armstrong Whitworth. She was the second of two ships in the Minas Geraes class, and was named after the state and city of São Paulo....

, both built in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, as well as two other major warships. Their demands included the abolition of torture as a form of punishment and improved living conditions in the Brazilian Navy. The new Brazilian president, Hermes da Fonseca, approved an amnesty, but the government later went back on this promise. In the revolt's aftermath Felisberto and many of his follower mutineers were either arrested, tortured or murdered in prison. Felisberto himself was tortured, and also contracted tuberculosis

Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...

, but he recovered after some months and was eventually released. The Brazilian press nicknamed him "Almirante Negro", or the "Black Admiral", for his actions.

Later life

After his release, he sank into poverty and experienced discrimination, working in a harbor on a very low salary. He was arrested again in 1930 but was soon released. In 1933 he joined the integralist

Brazilian Integralism

Brazilian Integralism was a fascist political movement in Brazil, created on October 1932. Founded and led by Plínio Salgado, a literary figure who was somewhat famous for his participation in the 1922 Modern Art Week, the movement had adopted some characteristics of European mass movements of...

 movement. In 1938 an integralist uprising was easily crushed by the Brazilian military, with fewer than twenty deaths, and the group was outlawed.

With Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

 at war with the fascist

Fascism

Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...

 Axis powers

Axis Powers

The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...

 from 1942 onwards, integralism became a small and powerless movement. Germany's defeat in 1945 reduced integralism to very little importance. João Cândido Felisberto, still poor and discriminated against, said in 1968 that he was proud to be an integralist. He died of cancer

Cancer

Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...

 in 1969 in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

. He died with no military pension, forgotten and poor.

Legacy and statue

The Whip Uprising, which was sparked by the use of torture in the Brazilian Navy, ended with Felisberto and many of his followers imprisoned and tortured. The revolt was cited later by labor organizers as an "heroic example of worker struggle." A statue of João Cândido Felisberto was erected in Rio de Janeiro.

Online

• http://www.coladaweb.com/perso/joao_candido.htm (in Portuguese)
• http://www.terrabrasileira.net/folclore/origens/africana/chibata.html (in Portuguese)