Antonio de Menezes was born on 09/06/1955, in Laranjeiras / SE (Sergipe), and soon after his family moved to Rio de Janeiro. At the age of twelve, he started practising capoeira with the book “Capoeira Sem Mestre”. A bit later he started to visit Mestre Mentirinha’s capoeira rodas in Ramos, where he met Mestre Paulão, founder of the Muzenza group. He then enrolled at Clube do Bolinha, where Mestre Paulão gave classes. The name Burguês (bourgeois) is from his time there, as he payed 3 months in advance for the monthly expense, which actually came working collecting bottles and pieces of lead in the streets to sell in the junkyard.
After a few years, Mestre Paulão, who was busy with his duties in the Brazilian Navy, transferred the group’s command to Burguês, who still supervises it today.
In 1975, after teaching in Madureira and Méier (RJ), he went to Curitiba. He transferred the headquarters of Muzenza to Paraná, starting work focused on the roots of capoeira and implementing this modality in clubs, schools, poor communities, universities and barracks.
Throughout his career he held several assemblies, national meetings, founded the Paranaense Federation of Capoeira, the Brazilian Capoeira Confederation and the Super Liga Brasileira de Capoeira, of which he is the president. In 2006 he returned to the city of Rio de Janeiro, going back to his roots, friends and family, replenishing his energy to continue the Muzenza Family saga.