Paulo Barroquinha

Paulo Barroquinha was one of the capoeiristas who formed the legendary circle around Besouro Mangangá in Santo Amaro da Purificação during the early 20th century. According to José Brigido Dorneles Antunes, who knew Besouro personally and reported to historian Antonio Liberac Cardoso Simões Pires, Paulo Barroquinha was among Besouro's closest companions: "His companions were: Paulo Barroquinha, Boca de Siri, Doze Homens, Noca de Jacó and Canário Pardo. They all lived in the area of Trapiche de Baixo".

Trapiche de Baixo was the poorest neighborhood of Santo Amaro, a place where African cultural traditions persisted despite the 1890 penal code that criminalized both capoeira and Candomblé. It was here, in the shadow of the sugar mills and along the banks of the Subaé River, that a community of capoeiristas trained together, played together, and protected each other.

According to Professor Leiteiro, these companions "were with him in the memorable capoeira rodas that hypnotized anybody that would go by". Multiple sources describe this group as "a gang of capoeira resistance fighters who trained together on Sundays and could always be relied upon to back one another up". Besouro's circle also included Siri de Mangue and Maria Doze Homens—a rare female capoeirista whose name suggests she had the strength of twelve men.

Nothing else is recorded about Paulo Barroquinha's life—not his trade, not his family, not his fate after Besouro's assassination in 1924. Like many capoeiristas of the pre-modern era, he exists in history primarily through his association with a legendary figure, a name in a list of companions who together represented an underground tradition of resistance and cultural preservation.

A capoeirista named "Pedro Paulo Barroquinha" also appears in Mestre Canjiquinha's testimony about the Sunday training sessions at Matatu Preto in Salvador during the 1930s. Canjiquinha recalled: "On Sundays, all those capoeiristas would come—Onça Preta, Geraldo Chapeleiro, Totonho Maré, Creoni, Chico Três Pedaços, Pedro Paulo Barroquinha, the late Barboza, and this citizen called Antonio Raimundo, nicknamed by all Aberrê". Whether this is the same person who moved from Santo Amaro to Salvador after Besouro's death, or a different individual with a similar name, remains unclear.