princess isabel, born on july 29, 1846 in rio de janeiro, she was the daughter of emperor pedro ii of brazil. after the death of her elder brothers, she became the heiress presumptive of the empire's throne - on three occasions during her father's absence, she acted as regent. she is referred to as the 'redemptress' and is held in high regard for her efforts towards abolition of slavery and for signing the golden law (Lei Áurea), which allowed complete abolitionism in brazil.

joaquim maria machado de assis, often known as machado de assis, machado, or bruxo do cosme velho was born in 1839 in rio de janeiro. he was a novelist, poet, playwright, short story writer and liberal monarchist - he is widely regarded as the greatest writer of brazilian literature. machado's works had a great influence on brazilian literary schools of the late 19th century and 20th century.