Francisco Adolfo de Varnhagen (1816-1878) was a Brazilian historian. His "História geral do Brasil" is still the starting point for any investigation of Brazilian colonial history.

Francisco Adolfo de Varnhagen was the son of a German metallurgist brought to Brazil at government expense to carry out studies there. The family then moved to Portugal, where the boy entered the military academy, after which he studied engineering, political economy, and languages. At 23 he published his first historical work, a critical edition of a 16th-century Brazilian travel account.

Meanwhile, Brazil had become independent of Portugal, and in 1841 Varnhagen became a Brazilian citizen. The next year he was named attaché to the Brazilian legation in Lisbon, and he supported himself thereafter as a member of Brazil's diplomatic corps, usually, and by preference, in some capital where the duties were light and the archival resources large.

Varnhagen soon began...