Born in Esplanada, Bahia, Brazil, at 19 years of age, Capinam moved to Salvador, Bahia and attended the Federal University of Bahia where he studied law. At university, he was a member of the União Nacional dos Estudantes (National Student Union), and he befriended musicians Gilberto Gil (who was studying business) and Caetano Veloso (who was studying philosophy). The 1964 military coup d'état forced him to leave Salvador, and he relocated to São Paulo. In São Paulo he worked on poems for his first book, "Inquisitórial". Eventually he returned to Salvador, this time to study medicine.