Lampião

"Captain" Virgulino Ferreira da Silva (Brazilian Portuguese: [viʁɡwlĩnw feˈʁejɾɐ da ˈsjwvɐ]), better known as Lampião (older spelling: Lampeão, Brazilian Portuguese: [lɐ̃piˈɐ̃w], meaning "lantern" or "oil lamp"), was the most famous bandit leader of the Cangaço. Cangaço was a form of banditry endemic to the Brazilian Northeast; it had origins in the late 19th century but was particularly prevalent in the 1920s and 1930s. Lampião led a band of up to 100 cangaceiros, who occasionally took over small towns and who fought a number of successful actions against paramilitary police when heavily outnumbered. Lampião's exploits and reputation turned him into a folk hero, the Brazilian equivalent of Jesse James or Pancho Villa.