Mestre Bobô

Milton Santos, known as Mestre Bobô, was born on March 25, 1925 in Salvador, Bahia, into humble circumstances. As a child, he was small and thin—so much so that those who saw him fishing at the Dique do Tororó compared him to a type of small fish common in those waters, and the nickname "Bobô" stuck. From an early age he worked to help support his family: fishing, shining shoes, and later as a construction laborer and mason, always facing considerable financial hardship.

Bobô learned capoeira from the street rodas of Salvador, absorbing the Angola tradition that flowed through the city's neighborhoods. Though no single teacher has been documented as his formal master, he became deeply immersed in the angoleiro tradition and developed extraordinary skill despite his slight build.

On December 26, 1962, Mestre Bobô founded the Academia de Capoeira Angola Cinco Estrelas in the backyard of Senhor Mané Jegue's house, beginning with over 40 students—both children and adults. The academy later relocated to the Clube de Regatas Vasco da Gama, and for more than 50 years Bobô taught capoeira at Dique do Tororó, becoming a fixture of that neighborhood's cultural life.

In 1979, when Mestre Pastinha was old, sick, and nearly blind, having distanced himself from his legendary academy at "19" Pelourinho, Mestre Bola Sete (José Luiz) invited Bobô to help continue the work at a new space at "51" Pelourinho. Bobô accepted, playing the instruments and maintaining the continuity of Pastinha's Angola tradition during those difficult final years.

On April 5, 1987, Mestre Bobô graduated his first generation of mestres: Môa do Katendê and Lua de Bobó. Môa would go on to become one of the most influential cultural figures in Bahia, founding the Afoxé Badauê and leading the "re-Africanization" of Salvador's carnival before his tragic murder in 2018.

Bobô's teaching extended beyond Salvador. In Santo Amaro da Purificação, he taught the young Jelon Vieira, who would later consider Bobô his "true mestre" and dedicate his 2008 NEA National Heritage Fellowship to him. In 1985, Bobô traveled to the United States for a festival in Los Angeles and New York. In November 1988, he participated in the 2° Batismo de Capoeira Palmares Sul in Florianópolis. That same year, a Tribuna da Bahia article listed him among only eight surviving "great master-angoleiros": Canjiquinha, Paulo dos Anjos, Curió, Virgílio da Fazenda Grande, Bobó, Bom Cabrito, João Grande, and João Pequeno.

In 1989, Bobô recorded an LP with his former student Jelon Vieira, alongside legendary mestres João Grande and João Pequeno. The album "Capoeira: Afro-Brazilian Art Form" captured the voices of these four masters together—a historic documentation of the Angola tradition.

He believed deeply in capoeira's values beyond money. "Na capoeira não se ganha dinheiro, mas se ganha amizade" (In capoeira you don't earn money, but you earn friendship), he would say. And: "Mestre é aquele que olha para a condição dos outros" (A master is one who looks after the condition of others).

Married with five children whom he raised alone after refusing opportunities abroad that would have separated him from his family, Bobô remained dedicated to his students and his community until a prolonged illness confined him during his final three years. He died on July 8, 1994 in Salvador, leaving behind a lineage of mestres who continue his Angola tradition.