Paulo César de Moura

Paulo César de Moura was a capoeirista in early 20th century Salvador who was killed during the brutal persecution led by Police Chief Pedro de Azevedo Gordilho, known as "Pedrito". This persecution, which began in 1920 when Pedrito assumed command of the Bahian police cavalry, represented one of the darkest periods in capoeira history.

Unlike most persecution victims who are remembered only by apelidos (nicknames), Paulo César de Moura is recorded with what appears to be his full name, suggesting he may have been of higher social standing or that his identity was particularly memorable to those who survived the era.

Mestre Onça Preta, who witnessed this era as a boy, recalled Paulo César de Moura among the fallen in a 1972 O Dia newspaper interview: "Besourinho, Doze Homens, Mãozinha, Antônio Galindéu, Geraldo Chapeleiro, Finado Manteiga, Nagé, Paulo César de Moura, Gasolinha, Juvelino and many others". According to Onça Preta, Pedrito's cavalry squad "conducted a real massacre among the old capoeira masters, not in open combat. Generally he assassinated them after capture, with the body appearing days later thrown in the woods, the back opened by knife cuts".

No further biographical details about Paulo César de Moura survive beyond this single reference in Onça Preta's testimony, making him one of the many victims of state violence against Afro-Brazilian culture and resistance.