José Bento Monteiro Lobato, born April 18, 1882, Taubaté, Brazil and died July 4, 1948, São Paulo, was a writer and editor, a precursor of the modernist movement in Brazilian literature.  

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A lawyer and coffee farmer from the interior of São Paulo, Monteiro Lobato wrote an unpretentious letter to a São Paulo newspaper, describing the droughts and fires in the interior. The editor asked for more articles and Lobato responded with sketches and short stories, later collected in the book Urupês (1918; “Cogumelos”). In them he presented the character Jeca Tatu, who became the symbol of the Brazilian sertanejo. “Poor Jeca Tatu”, comments Lobato. “You are so beautiful in novels and so ugly in real life! You do not speak; you don't sing; you do not love. "  

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A man of action, Monteiro Lobato moved to São Paulo, founded the literary magazine Revista do Brasil and a publishing house, and gathered around him a circle of new literary talents. Critical and rebellious, he was in and out of prison and exile many times. He also wrote children's books that were equally appreciated by adults.