Cruz e Sousa Biography | Poet

João da Cruz e Sousa (Nossa Senhora do Desterro November 24, 1861 – Estação do Sítio March 19, 1898) was a symbolist poet from Santa Catarina, Brazil. A son of freed slaves, he was one of the great Afro-Brazilian writers. He published his first poem in 1877. He was one of the pioneers of Symbolism in Brazil.