Biography:

Damasceno Gregório dos Santos (July 22, 1954 – August 26, 2025), better known as Mestre Damasceno was a Brazilian Carimbó singer and cultural director.

Life and career

Damasceno was a Carimbó master and creator of the Búfalo-Bumbá de Salvaterra, a June revelry derived from the auto do boi and whose central figure is the Marajoara buffalo.[1]

By 2012, Damasceno had more than 400 compositions.[2]  In 2023, he had his work declared as intangible cultural heritage of the State of Pará.[3]

In 2025, Damasceno was awarded as Commander of the Order of Cultural Merit (OMC), receiving the honor in Rio de Janeiro, in a Solemn ceremony attended by the President of the Republic and the Minister of Culture.[4]

Damasceno died August 26, 2025, aged 71.[5]

Credits: