carlos gracie (september 14, 1902october 7, 1994) was a brazilian martial artist who is credited with being one of the primary developers of brazilian jiu-jitsu. along with his younger brother hélio gracie and fellow students luis franca and oswaldo fadda, he helped develop brazilian jiu-jitsu based on knowledge from mitsuyo maeda, and is widely considered to be the martial-arts patriarch of the gracie family. he acquired his knowledge of jiu-jitsu by studying in belem under maeda and his students. as he taught the techniques to his brothers, he created a martial arts family with hélio and with other members of the gracie family who provided key contributions to the style.