Francisco de Aquino Correia

Aquino Correia was an accomplished poet and writer and became the first citizen of Mato Grosso native to belong to the Brazilian Academy of Letters.

[2][3] Aquino Correia was instrumental in the construction of the Eucharistic Shrine of Our Lady of Good Delivery, a Neogothic church resembling the Notre Dame in Paris, but not other structures in the city.

[2]: 1 Aquino Correia was born in the former Murtinho family home on the Fazenda Bela Vista, a plantation on the banks of the Cuiabá River.

The house is nicknamed "Predestination House" (Casa Predetinada) by historians for producing two of the most important figures in the modern history of Mato Grosso: Joaquim Murtinho and Dom Aquino Correia.B Murtinho, who was born in the residence in 1848, became a pioneer in homeopathic medicine in Brazil and also served as a senator and government minister, being best known for his role as Minister of Finance (1898–1902) under president Campos Sales.

Aquino Correia completed his education at the Liceu Salesiano de São Gonçalo, where he received a bachelor's degree in humanities.

[6][2] Aquino Correia drew close to the administration of president Getúlio Vargas (1930–1945) due to the conservative nature of the Catholic Church.

Aquino Correia led commemorations and events for the regime, including a thanksgiving mass on the 10th anniversary of the Vargas dictatorship.

Dom Aquino was the fourth occupant of seat 34 of the Brazilian Academy of Letters (Portuguese: Academia Brasileira de Letras).

Friar Ignácio Gau collaborated with the French engineer Georges Mousnier, the Count of Manoir, to replace the Portuguese colonial-era chapel with a radically different structure: a Neogothic church resembling the Notre Dame in Paris.

Dom Aquino supported the project and attended the laying of the foundation stone on September 8, 1918, during his tenure as President of Mato Grosso.

He is interred in the crypt along with some of the most important figures in the history of Mato Grosso: Francisco de Aquino Correia, Pascoal Moreira Cabral Leme, and Miguel Sutil, early settlers of Cuiabá; and Carlos Luís d'Amour, José Antônio dos Reis, Orlando Chaves, Benedito Calixto Neto, José Maria Macerata, Luiz de Castro Pereira, noted clergy of the city.

The scholar José Carlos de Macedo Soares stated[11]C: There is, in D. Aquino's poetry, a strong lyricism that combines well with his descriptive power, not only when he narrates an episode, but also when he invokes a landscape or simply a lively emotion.Aquino Correia wrote primarily in Portuguese, but also in French, Italian and Latin.

Casa Dom Aquino , birthplace of Dom Aquino Correia, now the Mato Grosso Museum of Natural History
Bom Despacho church
President Getúlio Vargas and Dom Aquino Correia, 1938