Father António Vieira

António Vieira
Father António Vieira, by an unknown artist of the early 18th century.
Born	6 February 1608 Lisbon, Kingdom of Portugal
Died	18 July 1697 (1697-07-19) (aged 89) Bahia, Portuguese Colony of Brazil
Nationality	Portuguese
Occupation	Jesuit priest, philosopher and writer

Father António Vieira (Portuguese pronunciation: [ɐ̃ˈtɔniu viˈɐjɾɐ]; 6 February 1608, Lisbon, Portugal – 18 July 1697, Bahia, Portuguese Colony of Brazil) was a Portuguese Jesuit preacher, philosopher and writer, the "prince" of Catholic pulpit-orators of his time.

Vieira was born in Lisbon to Cristóvão Vieira Ravasco, the son of a mulatto woman, and Maria de Azevedo. In 1614 he accompanied his parents to the colony of Brazil, where his father had been posted as a registrar. He received his education at the Jesuit college at Bahia. He entered the Jesuit novitiate in 1625, under Father Fernão Cardim, and two years later pronounced his first vows. At the age of eighteen he was teaching rhetoric, and a little later dogmatic theology, at the college of Olinda, besides writing the "annual letters" of the province.

In 1635 he entered the priesthood. He soon began to distinguish himself as an orator, and the three patriotic sermons he delivered at Bahia (1638–40) are remarkable for their imaginative power and dignity of language. The sermon for the success of the arms of Portugal against Holland was considered by the Abbé Raynal to be "perhaps the most extraordinary discourse ever heard from a Christian pulpit.

When the revolution of 1640 placed John IV on the throne of Portugal, Brazil gave him her allegiance, and Vieira was chosen to accompany the viceroy's son to Lisbon to congratulate the new king. His talents and aptitude for affairs impressed John IV so favorably that he appointed him tutor to the Infante Dom Pedro, royal preacher, and a member of the Royal Council.