Simão Salvador

An African hero in the Brazilian antislavery campaign

Abstract

In 1853, the Pernambucana steamship sank off the coast of Santa Catarina with dozens of crew and passengers aboard. In the heat of the tragedy, a free African who worked as a charcoal burner on the vessel was responsible for an eloquent act of heroism. Simão Salvador, as he would come to be known, rescues 13 victims of the shipwreck by swimming, ceaselessly covering the path between the vessel and the coast in the middle of an epic storm. In a short time, the saga of the African would gain the pages of the main newspapers in the country, would be distinguished by civil associations and by the Emperor himself, who would receive him in a formal audience at the São Cristóvão Palace. This article examines the repercussions of the heroic acts of a free black worker in Brazil in the 19th century and how it was used in favor and against the abolitionist campaign of the time.