Paulo Fernando de Moraes Farias, FBA, is a historian and Africanist specialising in epigraphic sources for the medieval history (5th to the 15th century) of West Africa as well as West African oral traditions and the Timbuktu Chronicles. [1] Since his retirement in 2003, he has been Honorary Professor at the Department of African Studies and Anthropology at the University of Birmingham. After graduating from the Federal University of Bahia in 1963, Moreas Farias taught at Bahia's Centre for Afro-Oriental Studies and at the Central College of Salvador; his association with the National Union of Students led to harassment from the military government of Brazil after 1964, prompting him to flee to Africa. Settling with his family in Ghana, he completed a Master of Arts degree at the University of Ghana, but fled once again to Senegal and then Nigeria following the Ghanaian coup of 1966; two years later, he took up an academic post at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, where he remained until retiring in 2003. [1] [2] [3]
In July 2017, Moraes Farias was elected a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA), the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and social sciences. [4] Moraes Farias was the recipient of a ASAUK Distinguished Africanist award in 2017. [5]
Moraes Farias published many scholarly articles, books and book chapters, including [1] [6]
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Marcus Vinícius da Cruz e Mello Moraes, better known as Vinícius de Moraes and nicknamed O Poetinha, was a Brazilian poet, diplomat, lyricist, essayist, musician, singer, and playwright. With his frequent and diverse musical partners, including Antônio Carlos Jobim, his lyrics and compositions were instrumental in the birth and introduction to the world of bossa nova music. He recorded numerous albums, many in collaboration with noted artists, and also served as a successful Brazilian career diplomat.
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