[Feitosa, Jovita Alves]. Traços biographicos da heroína brasileira Jovita Alves Feitosa, ex-sargento do 20 corpo de voluntários do Piauhy, natural do Ceará, por um Fluminense. Rio de Janeiro: Typ. Imparcial de Brito & Irmão, 1865. 14.6 cm, 44 pp.; litho frontispiece portrait of Feitosa, with foxing to same and title page, rest lightly toned; later cloth over decorated boards, spine worn at foot, orig. front wrapper bound in.
At 17, Jovita Alves Feitosa disguised herself as a man and enlisted in the Brazilian army to fight in the Paraguayan War. She cut her hair and bound her breasts, but was discovered before being deployed. The patriotism of her efforts was acknowledged by provincial authorities who allowed her to continue in the army as a uniformed second sergeant. When her volunteer corps reached Rio de Janeiro, her story became a sensation and was seized upon by propagandists to increase recruitment for the war. Despite this acclaim, the Minister of War refused her petition to proceed to the battlefront. Denied her goal, Jovita remained in Rio where she continued to be used as a symbol of Brazilian bravery until her sudden death in 1867, aged 19. Contemporary newspapers described it as a suicide.
This volume was published shortly after her arrival to Rio in September 1865 and includes a long poem celebrating her honor and bravery. It is the first biography of the national war heroine known today as simply “Jovita.”
Two North American holdings recorded in OCLC: Stony Brook and UCLA.
HOLD
