António José da Silva

Biografía

António José da Silva, byname O Judeu (Portuguese: “The Jew”) was a Brazilian writer whose comedies, farces, and operettas briefly revitalized the Portuguese theatre in a period of dramatic decadence. In 1739 Silva and his wife were both charged by the Inquisition with the heresy of Judaizing and imprisoned on October 5. Thirteen days later, Silva was garrotted and burned at an auto-da-fé (public burning at the stake).