Mestre Silvestre

Silvestre Vitório Ferreira, known in Bahia as Ferreirinha and later as Mestre Silvestre, was a pivotal figure in bringing capoeira from Salvador to São Paulo. In the late 1950s, he learned capoeira from Mestres Waldemar da Liberdade and Caiçara, and was a regular at the Centro Esportivo de Capoeira Angola (CECA), Mestre Pastinha's legendary academy. He also trained with Mestre Bimba, making him one of the few capoeiristas of his generation to have studied under all four of Bahia's most legendary masters.

In Salvador during the 1960s, he was known as Ferreirinha. As a contra-mestre under Mestre Caiçara, he held the authority to sign diplomas for other students—a significant responsibility in the traditional capoeira hierarchy. Among those whose diplomas he signed was Fernandinho (Fernando Olímpio Paes Filho), who later built his reputation in Rio de Janeiro.

Silvestre was one of the members of the group that Mestre Caiçara took to São Paulo to record the LP "Academia de Capoeira de Angola São Jorge dos Irmãos Unidos do Mestre Caiçara", though the personnel on that recording remain incompletely documented.

In 1966, Silvestre brought his capoeira to São Paulo, part of the wave of Bahian mestres who migrated to the industrial capital during that era. He founded the Grupo de Capoeira Vera Cruz (later formalized as Associação de Capoeira Vera Cruz in 1981) and taught for many years at Praça da Árvore in the Jabaquara district.

In 1972, he was one of the founding mestres of the Federação Paulista de Capoeira, the state capoeira federation. This was a pivotal year—capoeira was officially recognized as a sport in Brazil, and the federation represented capoeira's push for legitimacy as "Brazilian martial art".

Silvestre trained a generation of capoeiristas who spread the art to new regions. His most notable student was Julival do Espírito Santo (Mestre Gato de Silvestre), born 1952 in Goiás, who became the 1971 São Paulo State Capoeira Champion through Vera Cruz. At the end of the 1970s, Silvestre traveled to Manaus to participate in the I Encontro de Capoeira da Amazônia (First Amazon Capoeira Meeting), where he awarded Mestre Gato his mestre diploma through the Associação de Capoeira Vera Cruz.

Mestre Gato subsequently became the pioneer of capoeira in the Amazon region, founding the first academy in Amazonas called "Zumbí dos Palmares" in February 1972 and spreading capoeira to Bolivia, Colombia, and Panama.

Silvestre's testimony is a crucial source for understanding the Antônio de Noronha lineage. Along with Mestre Caiçara, he provided the lineage claim that places Mestre Antônio de Noronha at the top of the chain that runs through Aberrê to Canjiquinha. The Grupo Gingarte website cites this testimony directly: "Mestre Aberrê is the second mestre in my lineage, above him comes Mestre Antônio de Noronha—this affirmation came from Mestre Caiçara and Mestre Silvestre".