Mem de Sá
| Mem de Sá | |
|---|---|
| Governor-general of Brazil | |
|
In office 3 January 1558 – 2 March 1572 |
|
| Monarch | Sebastian |
| Preceded by | Duarte da Costa |
| Succeeded by | Lourenço da Veiga |
| Governor-general of Rio de Janeiro | |
|
In office 1567–1569 |
|
| Monarch | Sebastian |
| Preceded by | Estácio de Sá |
| Succeeded by | Salvador Correia de Sá |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 1500 Coimbra, Portugal |
| Died | 2 March 1572 (aged 71–72) Salvador, Colonial Brazil |
| Nationality | Portuguese |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Portuguese Empire |
| Battles/wars | Battle of Rio de Janeiro |
Mem de Sá (c. 1500 – 2 March 1572) was a Governor-General of the Portuguese colony of Brazil from 1557-1572. He was born in Coimbra, Kingdom of Portugal, around 1500, the year of discovery of Brazil by a naval fleet commanded by Pedro Álvares Cabral.
In the early sixteenth century, Brazil was not a major settled area of the Portuguese empire. The Jesuits had established aldeias in order to evangelize the Brazilian Indians. Portuguese settlers actively enslaved the indigenous populations. Mem de Sá was nominated the third Governor-General of Brazil in 1556, succeeding Duarte da Costa, who was Governor-General from 1553 to 1557. The seat of the government at the time was Salvador, in the present-day state of Bahia.
He was fortunate in securing the support of two important Jesuit priests, Fathers Manuel da Nóbrega (1517-1570) and José de Anchieta (1533-1597), who founded São Vicente in 1532, and São Paulo, on 25 January 1554, which is today one of the largest metropolises in the world. The Jesuits were stern and persistent missionaries of the Catholic faith with the aboriginal people, and their pacification of these warrior societies was one of the most important conquests of Mem de Sá's government. The Jesuits had conflicts with Duarte da Costa, because he supported the plantation owners, who tried to force slavery upon the Indians. Mem de Sá opposed the usury of the Portuguese plantation owners in their trade in Indian slaves and helped the Jesuits expand the number of their aldeias.
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