Who invented Brazil?

by Ruth Salles

“Who invented Brazil?
It was your Cabral, it was your Cabral…”

In 1934, that's what Lamartine Babo's carnival march said. Only it wasn't Cabral. Many years before this land of ours was already known by Celtic navigators, who gave it the name of Hy Bresail or O'Brasil, which meant, from the Celtic root “bress”, land of good luck. In Gustavo Barroso’s book “Nos Bastidores da História do Brasil” there is already talk of this, and historian Robert Southey also said that the name of Santa Cruz, given by King Dom Manuel, did not catch on because the land had been known for a long time by the Brazil name.

When Cabral, after arriving here, went to India following the king's orders, a caravel left for Portugal with two letters: one from Pero Vaz de Caminha, describing the land, and another from the king's doctor and navigation specialist Mestre João, giving all the scientific information about the location of the earth. In fact, he was the first to speak of the Southern Cross constellation as a guide for navigators. For Mestre João, in his letter, says to the king: “Have Your Highness bring a world map that has Pero Vaz Bisagudo and from there you will be able to see the site of this land.”

Well, in this land, a beautiful tree was found, well known to the Arabs, a tree that gave great ink. This ink, taken by them from the east to Europe, was called by the Italians berzil. Now, historians think that it was not this tree, found here, that gave our land its name, but the opposite. The word berzil soon merged with the already known name of the land, although many people, poetically, speak of ember-colored wood, etc. etc.

Well… But I confess that to this day I like to sing the song by Lamartine Babo:

“Who invented Brazil?
It was your Cabral, it was your Cabral…….”

Highlight: blackboard drawing by teacher Ana Beatriz Ghirello.

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