It is the purpose of this thesis to demonstrate that more than four years preceding the crystallization of the Modernist movement with the Week of Modern Art in So Paulo (1922) and at least ten years preceding Oswald De Andrades Manifesto antropfago (1928), Brazilian novelist and short story writer Monteiro Lobato had already perceived the need for, and expressed in his writings the ideals of, anthropophagy as defined by Andrade and as utilized by the Modernists. This work will specifically analyze Lobatos use of the European folktale Cinderella in his short story A colcha de retalhos (1918) and discuss his proto-anthropophagous agenda as manifested in this work of fiction.