Antônio Filipe Camarão

António Filipe Camarão (* c. 1580 possibly in Aldeia Velha; † August 24, 1648) was a Native American from the tribe of the Potiguar near the Pernambuco area of Brazil. His original tribal name was Poti, which means prawn (port. Camarão). On the occasion of his conversion to the Christian faith on the 13 June in 1612 (the feast day of Saint Anthony) he chose the Portuguese version of the name António and the middle name of Filipe in honor of Felipe, King of both Portugal and Spain, adding the Portuguese version of his tribal name Poti ("Camarão" in Portuguese). He married the very next day in the Capela de São Miguel de Guajeru to a lady from his tribe who also converted to Christianity and took the name Clara. Besides knowing perfect Portuguese, he was also well-versed in Latin because of his education in a missionary school lead by Jesuit monks.

Since 1630, he fought against the Dutchmen, which tried to take over Brazil. He fought them as the leader of an Indian regiment on various battles until his death in 1648. The last year of his life brought him to the top of his military career as leader of the right flank of the United Portuguese Army during the First Battle of Guararapes against General Arcizewski.By royal decision, António Filipe Camarão was given the right to use the title "Dom", which is the equivalent of the english "Sir". He is buried in Várzea in Pernambuco, Brazil on August 24, 1648.

There are several ways of writing the name. In Brazil, for example, it's common to read the name in the archaic spelling "Felipe Camarão" or "Antônio Felipe Camarão". This article uses the modern orthography.

External links

* [http://www.klepsidra.net/klepsidra22/felipecamarao.htm O Terço de Antônio Filipe Camarão: sua cooptação e evolução militar durante a invasão holandesa]
* [http://www.tribunadonorte.com.br/especial/histrn/hist_rn_5a.htm "O Governador dos Índios"]
* [http://www.inatel.pt/tempolivre/168/vhist.html Journal "Tempo Livre" from "Inatel"]