Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, often known as Machado de Assis, Machado, or Bruxo do Cosme Velho, was a Brazilian novelist, poet, playwright, short story writer and liberal monarchist. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer of Brazilian literature.
However, he did not gain widespread popularity outside Brazil in his own lifetime. Machados works had a great influence on Brazilian literary schools of the late 19th century and 20th century. José Saramago, Carlos Fuentes, Susan Sontag and Harold Bloom are among his admirers and Bloom calls him "the supreme black literary artist to date."
Iaiá Garcia is the last romance novel by Machado de Assis.