Manuel Antônio de Almeida was born in Rio de Janeiro on November 17, 1830 and died in a shipwreck, near Macaé (State of Rio) on November 28, 1861.
He received a doctorate in Medicine in Rio de Janeiro, in 1855, although he did not practice the profession. He was a civil servant, in the positions of administrator of the National Printing Office and official of the Ministry of Finance.
Like Gonçalves Dias, he met his death in a shipwreck, when, on board the steamer "Hermes", he was heading to the city of Campos, in the State of Rio.
As a journalist, he collaborated with the Correio Mercantil from 1854 to 1856.
In addition to a translation by the King of Doctors, the Frenchman Paul Fléval and the lyrical drama Dois Amôres, which was published in 1861, the only work by him that deserves mention, is the novel Memórias de um Sargento de Milícias, which was first published in serials and later in a book, in two volumes, which came out in 1854 and 1855.
This work, which was the first costume novel published in Brazil, was enough to consolidate his fame as a novelist. In it, the author clearly demonstrated his resources, both for the fidelity with which he drew the characters, and for the rhythm of naturalness he imprinted on the narrative.
Manuel Antônio de Almeida is the patron of Chair N.4 28 of the Academia Brasileira de Letras.
Source: http://www.dec.ufcg.edu.br/biografias/
Order M - Biography - Brazil School
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/biografia/manuel-antonio-almeida.htm