Maria Bonita

Maria Bonita
Author(s)	Afrânio Peixoto
Country	Brazil
Language	Portuguese
Genre(s)	Romance novel
Publication date	1914

Maria Bonita is a romance novel, one of a trilogy, based on the story of Maria, the wife of João Lopes da Costa Pinho. João Lopes da Costa Pinho emigrated to Brazil from Vila Nova de Gaia in Portugal. Some say he arrived barefoot but he went on to be immensely wealthy, owning some 32 cattle and cocoa farms in the state of Bahia, northeast Brazil. The marriage did not last but in their time together they became friends with the author Afrânio Peixoto and their colourful lives inspired this 1914 novel which caused a storm.

In 1937 the book was turned into a film directed by Julien Mandel. Peixoto wrote the screenplay.

Maria Bonita is also a song written by the famous Mexican composer Agustín Lara. Lara was known for his love affairs with various women, among them María Félix, who became one of his many wives, and to whom he dedicated his most famous compositions, such as "María Bonita", "Aquel Amor" and "Noche de Ronda."

Maria Bonita was also the nickname of Maria Bea, a member of a Cangaço band, marauders and outlaws who terrorized the Brazilian Northeast in the 1920s and 1930s. Maria Bonita means "Beautiful Maria". She was the girlfiend of "Captain" Virgulino Ferreira da Silva, better known as Lampião's (Portuguese pronunciation: [lɐ̃ˈpjɐ̃w], Oil Lamp), the outlaw band leader. Virgulino's father was killed in a confrontation with the police in 1919. Virgulino sought vengeance and proved to be extremely violent in doing so. He became an outlaw and was incessantly pursued by the police (whom he called macacos or monkeys).

Maria Bonita joined him in 1930. Like other women in the band, she dressed like cangaceiros and participated in many of their actions. They had a daughter in 1932.

The band traveled on horses wearing leather outfits including hats, jackets, sandals, ammunition belts, and trousers to protect them from the thorns of the caatinga (dry shrubs and brushwood typical of the dry hinterland of Brazil's Northeast.)

Their weapons were mostly stolen from the police and paramilitary units and consisted of Mauser military rifles and a variety of smaller firearms including Winchester rifles, revolvers and the prized Mauser semi-automatic pistol. They used to attack small cities and farms in seven states, kill people and cattle, take hostages for ransom, torture, fire-brand, maim, rape, and ransack.

Finally, on July 28, 1938, Lampião and his band were betrayed by one of his supporters and were ambushed in one of his hideouts, the Angico farm, in the state of Sergipe, by a police troop armed with machine guns. In a quick battle, Lampião, Maria Bonita and 9 of his troops were killed. Their heads were cut off and sent to Salvador, the capital of Bahia, for examination by specialists at the State Forensic Institute, and later, for public exhibition, and only in 1969 were the families of Lampião and Maria Bonita able to reclaim the preserved heads to finally bury them.