Jacyntho Ferro

Jacyntho Ferro was a competitive cyclist, boxer, Greco-Roman wrestler, and weightlifter based in Belem. He began studying jiu-jitsu under Mitsuyo Maeda in 1915. On June 19, 1920, Maeda promoted five students to 'primeiro galao' (first rank) — including Ferro — in a ceremony reported by the newspaper Estado do Para. A June 1921 newspaper article identified both Donato Pires dos Reis and Carlos Gracie as 'students of Professor Jacyntho Ferro' — not direct students of Maeda. This makes Ferro the crucial missing link in the standard Gracie origin narrative. He served as Maeda's right-hand man, running the academy when the master traveled. His death in 1929 was reported in newspapers across Brazil.