Lampião

Lampião
Lampião, photographed in 1926
Born	Virgulino Ferreira da Silva (1897-06-07)June 7, 1897 Serra Talhada, Pernambuco, Brazil
Died	July 28, 1938, aged 41 Angicos, Sergipe, Brazil
Occupation	Cangaceiro
Known for	Banditry, Murder, Robbery, Extortion
Spouse(s)	Maria Déia (Maria Bonita)
Children	Expedita Ferreira
Parent(s)	José Ferreira da Silva, Maria Lopes

"Captain" Virgulino Ferreira da Silva (Brazilian Portuguese: [viʁgwlĩnw feˈʁejɾɐ da ˈsjwvɐ]), better known as Lampião (more archaic spelling 'Lampeão', Brazilian Portuguese: [lɐ̃piˈɐ̃w], meaning "lantern" or "oil lamp"), was the most famous bandit leader of the Cangaço. Cangaço was a form of banditry endemic to the Brazilian Northeast in the 1920s and 1930s. Lampião's exploits turned him into a 'folk hero', the Brazilian equivalent of Jesse James.

Virgulino was born on June 7, 1897, near the village of Serra Talhada, on his father's 'ranch' named Passagem das Pedras in the semi-arid backlands (sertão) of the state of Pernambuco. He was the third of nine children of José Ferreira da Silva and Maria Lopes, a humble family of subsistence farmers. Until he was 21 years old, he worked hard herding his father's few cattle, sheep and goats, becoming a skilled rider and 'cowboy'. He was also an accomplished leathercraft artisan. Though he never attended school he was literate and used reading glasses—both quite unusual features for the rough and poor region where he lived.

The backlands had little in the way of law and order, even the few police in existence were usually in the pocket of a local "Coronel" - a leading landowner who was also a regional political chief - and would usually take sides in any dispute. Indeed, the poorer portion of the backlands population were generally badly treated by the paramilitary police, and would often prefer the presence of bandits in their settlements over that of the police. In such a society disputes between neighbours could quickly escalate into violent feuding. Virgulino's family fell into a deadly feud with other local families. His father twice moved his family to avoid the escalating dispute, first to Nazaré, and then to Água Branca in the State of Alagoas. These moves proved to be fruitless as violence followed the family, with Virgulino and his brothers Antônio and Levino gaining reputations as troublemakers. Eventually José Ferreira was killed in a confrontation with the police on May 18, 1921. Virgulino sought vengeance and proved to be extremely violent in doing so. He became an outlaw, a cangaceiro, and was incessantly pursued by the police (whom he called macacos or monkeys). Virgulino had acquired the nickname 'Lampião' as early as 1921, allegedly because he could fire a lever-action rifle so fast, that at night it looked as though he was holding a lamp.