October 2, 2026
Dr. Rosendo Evora Brito, Ph.D. aged 88, of East Providence, RI, died peacefully at home, surrounded by family on August 11, 2025. He was born in Santo Antao in the Cape Verde Islands on March 1, 1937. In 1962, he emigrated to the United States and worked at various places, including Ciba-Geigy, before fulfilling his dream of achieving his Ph.D. and becoming a professor and teaching. Professor Brito, as he was known to his students at the University of Rhode Island, taught English Literature and Greek and Roman Literature for twenty years.
Dr. Brito was a writer of Cape Verdean literature and the last living of the Hesperitan poets; himself of the Certeza Period. He published three collections of poetry: As Hesperidas e Eu, (The Hesperides and I), O Voo das Andorinhas, (The Flight of the Swallows), and A Voz Bucolica do Cipreste (The Bucolic Voice of the Cypress).
Dr. Brito was influential in the larger Cape Verdean-American Community in southeastern New England. He and his wife, Isabel, were among the founding members of the Cape Verdean Church, The Immaculate Heart of Mary, in Pawtucket, RI. He served on various boards including the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts as well as The Community Advisory Boad of the Institute for Portuguese and Lusophone World Studies at Rhode Island College (IPLWS). In 2016, he was honored at the IPLWS 10th Anniversary Celebration. He was a member of the National Assembly of Cape Verde and was honored by the government with a prestigious award for his long service.
Rosendo, affectionately as Husband, Dad and Vovo, is predeceased by his mother, Maria da Luz Tavares, (nee Evora) and his father, Cesar Monteiro de Brito. He is survived by his wife, Isabel Maria Brito, (nee Santos) his sister, Eliza de Burgo, his brother, Reinaldo Monteiro Matos, his children, Aurora M. Brito, Annette S. Brito, Lola Brito-Lange, Roland S. Brito, and his wife Joyce Brito, (nee Travers) and his grandchildren, Max Peter Riegel, Travers John Brito, Juliette Marie Lange, Rylan Jesse Brito and Marrella Maiz-Brito.
The family wishes to gratefully acknowledge all the acts of kindness and empathy shown during his passing.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Tuesday, August 19, 2025 at 10:00 AM in The Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, 291 High Street, Pawtucket. Burial will be in Gate of Heaven Cemetery, East Providence. Calling hours will be held on Monday, August 18, 2025 from 5-8 PM in the PERRY-McSTAY FUNERAL HOME, 2555 Pawtucket Avenue, East Providence.
In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to help the City of Mindelo, in Sao Vicente, Cape Verde that has suffered during this recent hurricane of August 2025.
