Gonçalo da Silveira

Gonçalo da Silveira (1526–1561) was a Portuguese Jesuit born at Almeirim, the tenth child of the first count of Sortelha. He joined the Society of Jesus at Coimbra and from 1555 served as provincial superior of the Jesuits in India. In 1560 he sailed for south-east Africa, and in 1561 reached the court of the Mwenemutapa Negomo.

He refused the king's gifts and gave him a painting of the Virgin Mary, then instructed and baptised the king, his mother and hundreds of Shona nobles. A traditional account relates that rivals accused him of witchcraft and spying, and he was strangled on 15–16 March 1561 and thrown into the Musengezi River.