Mestre Vitor Agaú

Vitor Agaú was one of the early mestres of capoeira in Salvador, Bahia, active during the early twentieth century. His name appears in the oral testimonies of several capoeiristas who learned from him or played alongside him in the great rodas of that era.

Mestre Onça Preta (Cícero Navarro, 1909-2006), recounting his youth in a 1972 interview, listed Vitor Agaú among the masters under whom he trained as a boy in Salvador. "I had not one, but many mestres", Onça Preta recalled. "Still a boy, I jumped with Samuel, with Pastinha, Besourinho, Vitor Agaú, Gasolina, Aberrê... and many others, who today are deceased". This testimony places Vitor Agaú alongside the greatest names of Bahian capoeira in the 1920s and 1930s - Samuel Querido de Deus (considered by many the greatest capoeirista of 1930s Salvador), Vicente Pastinha, and Raimundo Aberrê.

Unlike Besourinho and Gasolina, who were killed during the brutal persecution of capoeiristas by Police Chief Pedro de Azevedo Gordilho ("Pedrito") in the 1920s, Vitor Agaú survived to see capoeira emerge from the shadows. On February 23, 1941, he was among the mestres present at the historic gathering at Ladeira de Pedra in the Gengibirra neighborhood of Liberdade, where civil guard Amorzinho passed leadership of the traditional roda to Mestre Pastinha. This moment marked the founding of the Centro Esportivo de Capoeira Angola (CECA), the first academy dedicated to preserving the traditional Angolan style.

Mestre Pastinha's own account lists "Vitor H.D". among those present alongside Amorzinho, Aberrê, Antonio Maré, Daniel Noronha, Onça Preta, Livino Diogo, Olampio, Zeir, Alemão filho de Maré, Domingo de Milhães, Beraldo Izaque dos Santos, Pinião José Chibata, and Ricardo B. dos Santos.

Vitor Agaú also taught the next generation. Gaguinho Preto (Everaldo Arcanjo de Assis, 1934-2002), who grew up in the Curva Grande neighborhood, learned capoeira starting at age four from three teachers: Menino Gordo da Curva Grande, Roque, and Victor H.U. (as his name appears in this source). Gaguinho Preto later passed through Pastinha's CECA and trained with Zeca do Uruguai, but his foundational years were shaped by these early mestres including Vitor Agaú.

Mestre Roque also recalled playing capoeira with Vitor Agaú: "I jumped with Pastinha, Caiçara, Vitor Agaú, Onça Preta and many other masters of my time". This places Vitor Agaú in the active roda circuit of Salvador through at least the 1940s.

Little else is known about Vitor Agaú. His full name remains unrecorded - the initials "H.D". or "H.U". that appear in some sources may represent his surname, but its meaning has been lost. He left no written records, founded no academy, and his death went undocumented. Yet through the testimony of those he taught and played with, his name endures as one of the links in the chain that connects modern Capoeira Angola to its roots in early twentieth-century Salvador.