Mestre Camafeu de Oxóssi

Ápio Patrocínio da Conceição was born on October 4, 1915, on Rua Gravatá in the Nazaré neighborhood of Salvador, Bahia. His father, Faustino José do Patrocínio, was a master stonemason who died when Ápio was only seven years old. His mother, Maria Firmina da Conceição, from Camamu, sold sweets and snacks from a street stand to raise her sixteen children alone.

Orphaned young, Ápio grew up in the streets of Pelourinho. He learned to survive as a shoe shiner, newspaper vendor, shoelace seller, and later as a stevedore at Companhia Docas da Bahia. It was in these streets that he acquired his famous apelido. As a child, he would beg for coins outside Cinema Olímpia to watch the film serial "Camafeu Amarelo" (Yellow Cameo), whose resourceful protagonist wore a cameo jewel. The neighborhood began calling the clever boy "Camafeu" for his similar cunning and luck. Later, as a devotee of the orixá Oxóssi—syncretized with São Jorge—he added "de Oxóssi" to his name.

From his street life, Camafeu absorbed capoeira and the art of the berimbau from the old mestres of Salvador. He never named a specific teacher—his education came from the rodas of the city itself. He frequented the circles where mestres gathered, including those around Mestre Pastinha at CECA in the Pelourinho. The composer Dorival Caymmi, no small authority on Bahian culture, declared: "Com um berimbau nas mãos, ninguém supera Camafeu de Oxóssi" (With a berimbau in his hands, nobody surpasses Camafeu de Oxóssi). The scholar Waldeloir Rego countered that Mestre Gato was the greatest berimbau player—a friendly rivalry that underscored both men's mastery.

In 1945, Camafeu obtained his first stall at the Mercado Modelo, selling berimbaus and Candomblé religious items. This became his commercial home for decades. He also directed several samba schools, including Gato Preto, Só Falta Você, and Deixa Pra Lá.

Deeply connected to Afro-Brazilian religion, Camafeu became an Obá de Xangô—specifically Osi Obá Aresá—at the Ilê Axé Opô Afonjá terreiro, one of Salvador's most prestigious Candomblé houses. This honor placed him alongside other luminaries like the painter Carybé, writers Jorge Amado and Dorival Caymmi, and later Gilberto Gil. He was reportedly a nephew of the legendary Mãe Aninha and was initiated by Mãe Senhora.

From 1961 to 1964, Camafeu was among the first students of the Yoruba language course offered by the Centro de Estudos Afro-Orientais at the Universidade Federal da Bahia, taught by Nigerian instructor Benese Lasebikan de Tundê. He attended classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays for four years, mastering Yoruba to a degree that would prove significant.

In April 1966, Camafeu joined the most important journey of his life. He traveled to Dakar, Senegal, as part of the Brazilian delegation to the First World Festival of Black Arts. The capoeira delegation—led by the nearly blind 77-year-old Mestre Pastinha—included João Grande, Gato Preto, Gildo Alfinete, and Roberto Satanás. At the festival, Pastinha was too frail to perform. Instead, his students—Gato, Roberto, and Gildo—played capoeira while Camafeu provided the berimbau accompaniment. Their presentation before 10,000 people at Friendship Stadium was received with tremendous applause. Camafeu later recalled that his Yoruba skills facilitated communication with Nigerian delegates, and that the Brazilian capoeira and music "reached the Africans' senses more than the sambas sung by Ataulfo Alves and Elizeth Cardoso".

Upon returning to Brazil, Camafeu recorded two albums that became classics. In 1967, Continental Records released "Berimbaus da Bahia" with liner notes by Jorge Amado, combining capoeira songs on Side A with orixá chants on Side B. The following year, Philips released "Camafeu de Oxóssi", continuing the fusion of capoeira and Candomblé music.

Tragedy struck on August 1, 1969, when fire destroyed the old Mercado Modelo, taking everything Camafeu owned. With help from friends like Jorge Amado and Carybé, he rebuilt. In 1971 (or 1972), when the new Mercado Modelo opened in the former customs house building, Camafeu inaugurated a restaurant on the upper floor with his wife Toninha—a woman from São Gonçalo dos Campos whom he called his true partner. The restaurant "Camafeu de Oxóssi" became one of Salvador's most beloved establishments, famous for Bahian cuisine and impeccable service. It remains open today, with a terrace overlooking the Baía de Todos-os-Santos.

From 1976 to 1982, Camafeu served as president of the Afoxé Filhos de Gandhi, the historic bloco founded by dockworkers in 1949, the year of Mahatma Gandhi's assassination. When Camafeu took over, the institution was in crisis—it had not paraded at Carnival since 1973. Under his leadership, with support from artists like Gilberto Gil, the Filhos de Gandhi revived. In 1976, approximately 80 men returned to the streets. By the time he left the presidency, the afoxé had grown to become the massive cultural force it remains today.

Writer Jorge Amado is said to have based characters on Camafeu in at least four novels: Teresa Batista, Tenda dos Milagres, Dona Flor e Seus Dois Maridos, Tieta do Agreste, and the guide Bahia de Todos os Santos. Musicians including Martinho da Vila, Originais do Samba, and Candeia mentioned him in songs. In 1966, the Brazilian Cultural Division directed filmmaker Rui Polanah to seek him out for a documentary about Bahia.

Camafeu had an adopted son named Chico, the child of his friend Chico da Gameleira, whom he raised and educated.

By the 1990s, Camafeu had become an icon—"uma memória viva das ruas de Salvador" (a living memory of Salvador's streets). But he was ill. Throat cancer slowly claimed him. On March 26, 1994, at age 78, Ápio Patrocínio da Conceição—Camafeu de Oxóssi—died at Hospital Aristides Maltez.

His funeral the following day was one of the most notable in Salvador's history. At the cemetery of the Ordem Terceira de São Francisco, as Catholic prayers were offered, the babalorixá Luís da Muriçoca lifted a Yoruba song to the skies, and all present joined in. It was a fitting farewell for a man who had embodied the synthesis of African, Catholic, and Brazilian traditions that defines Bahia.