1. Olavo Bilac was elected the "Prince of Brazilian Poets" in 1907 by the magazine Fon-Fon.
11 Facts About Olavo Bilac
1. 2.
Olavo Bilac wrote the lyrics of the Brazilian Flag Anthem.
3.
Olavo Bilac founded and occupied the 15th chair of the Brazilian Academy of Letters from 1897 until his death in 1918.
4.
Olavo Bilac is the patron of the military service in Brazil due to his campaigns in favor of conscription.
5.
Olavo Bilac began studying medicine, but did not finish the course.
6.
Olavo Bilac tried to study law at the Faculdade de Direito da Universidade de Sao Paulo but did not finish that course either.
7.
In 1897, Olavo Bilac lost control of his car, crashing it into a tree.
8.
Olavo Bilac was the first person to suffer a car accident in Brazil.
9.
Olavo Bilac was engaged to Amelia de Oliveira, the sister of the poet Alberto de Oliveira, but their engagement was short-lived since it was opposed by another brother of Amelia, who said Bilac had no future.
10.
Olavo Bilac had an even shorter engagement to Maria Selika, daughter of violinist Francisco Pereira da Costa, but a legend says that Amelia was very faithful to Bilac: she never married, and, when Bilac died, she put a lock of her hair in his coffin.
11.
Olavo Bilac translated, into Portuguese, Wilhelm Busch's Max and Moritz as As Travessuras de Juca e Chico.