Lampião
"Captain" Virgulino Ferreira da Silva, better known as Lampião (meaning "lantern" or "oil lamp"), was the most successful traditional bandit leader of the twentieth century. Cangaço banditry was endemic to the Brazilian Northeast. Cangaço originated in the late 1800s but was most popular in the 1920s and 1930s. Lampião led a gang of up to 100 cangaceiros who occasionally took over small towns and fought a number of successful battles against paramilitary police despite being vastly outnumbered. Among the most important historical figures in Brazil, Lampião became a folk hero as a result of his exploits and reputation, the Brazilian equivalent of Jesse James or Pancho Villa.
Despite his history of brutality and savagery, Lampião's undoubted courage, many fights against great odds, occasional acts of mercy and charity, conventional piety, and calculated courting of publicity were enough to ensure that Lampião entered Brazilian folklore as a hero. One of the more objective analyses of Lampião concluded that, if he was a hero, he was an anarchist hero who carved out a prominent place for himself in a society and political environment where people prioritized their own interests above all else.
The songs associated with Lampião's bandits were recorded as "Cantigas de Lampião" in 1957. Joan Baez covered "Mulher Rendeira" as "O Cangaceiro" on her album Joan Baez/5, which was released in October 1964. Lampião is mentioned directly in the lyrics.
The story of Lampião and Maria Bonita inspired numerous folk tales, books, comic books, popular pamphlets (cordel literature), songs, movies, and a number of TV soap operas, with all the drama, passion, and violence typical of "Wild West" stories.
In a verse of the quadra (call and response style song), Capoeira culture honors his folk hero status ''Sim, Sim, Sim, Não, Não, Não'. Lampião was mentioned in the lyrics of "Ratamahatta," a song from the Roots album by Brazilian metal band Sepultura. Caio Facó, a composer of classical music, wrote a piece (Cangaceiros e Fanaticos, for string quartet) inspired by the theme of Cangaço.
Torcida Jovem do Sport, a Sport Club do Recife ultras group, uses the myth of Lampião and Maria Bonita as their 'leaders' and symbols.
