Hipólito José da Costa (13 August 1774 - 11 September 1823) was a great Brazilian writer, journalist, diplomat and freemason, universally considered to be the "father of Brazilian press".
Persecuted and imprisoned by the Portuguese Inquisition for his Masonic affiliation, Da Costa took refuge in London, where he made a great contribution to the growth and development of Freemasonry. Da Costa played a leading role in persuading the British government to recognize the independence of Brazil in 1823 and indicated the place where Brasilia, the present Capital of Brazil, would be built.
All the great mystery and initiatory traditions of Mediterranean antiquity, from Egypt to Greece, from Italy to the Near East, had their own secret brotherhoods of builders under their control. Secret brotherhoods that held the secrets of geometry and sacred geography, which with their silent work have achieved over the centuries the mirroring of heaven on earth, building the largest and most majestic temples of human spirituality. The fundamental work by Da Costa entitled The History of the Dionysian Artificers, published in London in 1820, a real milestone in the history of Masonic literature, a precious book that all Masons should read and jealously keep in their library, provides us with important keys to reading and understanding this fascinating and mysterious context.