Mestre Virgílio da Fazenda Grande

Virgílio Maximiano Ferreira was born on December 3, 1944, in Salvador, Bahia. His father, Mestre Espinho Remoso (Elízio Maximiano Ferreira), was a renowned capoeirista from Teixeira de Freitas who had learned the art in Santo Amaro's sugarcane mills and later settled in Salvador.

In 1954, at age ten, Virgílio began learning capoeira from his father at Jaqueira do Carneiro, behind the Retiro neighborhood. Espinho Remoso did not run a formal school—instead, he operated a kiosk where, every Sunday, fellow capoeiristas would gather to play. These Sunday rodas attracted significant figures of Bahian capoeira in the 1950s, including Mestre Waldemar, Mestre Paulo dos Anjos, and Zacarias Boa Morte.

In 1960, when Virgílio was sixteen, his father died. The young man took up his father's mantle, continuing the Sunday roda at Jaqueira do Carneiro and carrying forward the capoeira tradition in the Fazenda Grande do Retiro community.

After his father's passing, Virgílio trained briefly under Mestre Caiçara and later received his mestre title from Mestre Paulo dos Anjos, a renowned disciple of Mestre Canjiquinha. This lineage connected him to the deepest roots of Bahian Capoeira Angola.

For over thirty years, Virgílio has developed social work at the Escola Profissional 1º de Maio in Fazenda Grande do Retiro, using capoeira as a tool for community education and youth development.

In July 1988, the Tribuna da Bahia published an article titled "A resistência da capoeira" (The Resistance of Capoeira), identifying only eight surviving "great master-angoleiros": Canjiquinha, Paulo dos Anjos, Curió, Virgílio da Fazenda Grande, Bobô, Bom Cabrito, João Grande, and João Pequeno. The article lamented that of these eight, only the two Joãos were actively teaching at the time. This recognition placed Virgílio among the most important living guardians of traditional Capoeira Angola.

In September 2008, the Salvador City Council honored Mestre Virgílio for his fifty years in capoeira (1958-2008). At this ceremony, he spoke about his experiences with the traditional masters—Waldemar, Caiçara, and his father Espinho Remoso.

Virgílio became president of the Associação Brasileira de Capoeira Angola (ABCA), founded in 1987 to bring together elder capoeira angola mestres and preserve ancestral traditions. Under his leadership, he worked alongside other ABCA officers including Vice-President Mestre Augusto Januário, Treasurer Mestre Pelé do Tonel, and members of the Council of Masters led by Mestre Nô.

At the ABCA headquarters in the heart of Pelourinho, Virgílio plays every Friday at 7:00 PM with old companions such as Mestres Bigodinho, Nô, Boca Rica, Ângelo Romano, Pelé da Bomba, and others. These rodas maintain the tradition of songs and berimbau rhythms passed down through generations.

In January 2025, at over eighty years old, Mestre Virgílio da Fazenda Grande was among ten mestres and mestras who received the Sankofa trophy at the VI Rede Capoeira event, consecrating him as a "popular hero" for his lifetime dedication to Capoeira Angola.

With more than seventy years dedicated to Capoeira Angola, Mestre Virgílio Maximiano Ferreira is a symbol of resistance in the ancestral struggle. His life's work—from continuing his father's roda at Jaqueira do Carneiro to leading the ABCA and training new generations at Escola 1º de Maio—represents an unbroken chain of cultural transmission.