Leopoldo Machado de Souza Barbosa was born on September 30, 1891 in Arraial de Cepa Forte (today Jandaíra), in the state of Bahia, Brazil. Son of Eulélio de Souza Barbosa and Ana Isabel Machado Barbosa, he was a journalist, teacher, writer, poet, composer and lecturer, spreading Spiritism and even gaining the respect of the Doctrine's adversaries.

Leopoldo became acquainted with the Doctrine of the Spirits around 1915, through José Petitinga. In 1927, he married Marília Ferraz de Almeida and, two years later, they moved to Nova Iguaçu. There, they joined the team of workers of the Spiritist Centre Faith, Hope and Charity, actively participating in the construction of the Allan Kardec Night Shelter and the Home of Jesus.

Together with his wife, in 1930 he established himself as an educator in the city, inaugurating the Leopoldo School - today a traditional educational establishment - with the collaboration of his younger sister, Leopoldina Barros (wife of Professor Newton Gonçalves de Barros), and Admiral Paim Pamplona, former President of the Brazilian Spiritist Federation.

Leopoldo participated in the organisation of several events, such as: the First Brazilian Congress of Spiritist Journalists and Writers, in 1939, under the coordination of Deolindo Amorim; the First Congress of the Brazilian Spiritist Youth, from 17th to 23rd July 1948; he conceived the Brazilian Congress of Unification, held in the capital of São Paulo, from 31st October to 5th November 1948. The following year, he was summoned to the II Pan-American Congress, held in Rio de Janeiro, and also to the Golden Pact.

The writers Antônio de Souza Lucena and Paulo Alves Godoy write about this important moment in their book "Personagens do Espiritismo": "Understanding the importance of these meetings for the greatness of the Spiritist Doctrine in the future, within his possibilities, he was always there helping in some way. The same spiritists who inspired the Golden Pact inspired the 'Caravan of Fraternity', in which Leopoldo Machado, Lins de Vasconcelos, Carlos Jordão da Silva, Francisco Spinelli, Ary Casadio and Luiz Burgos Filho participated, whose Caravan was the crowning of the Golden Pact, the unifying incentive in the formation of the National Federative Council, under the auspices of the Brazilian Spiritist Federation. The return of the "Caravan of the Fraternity" was an absolute success, with the states of the north and northeast of the country joining the unification of Spiritism throughout the country. Leopoldo also organised the First National Festival of the Spiritist Book, in homage to the "18th of April", the great date of the launching of the Book of the Spirits, whose celebration became usual all over Brazil within the framework of the commemorations of the "Day of the Book". He created the Advisory Council of the Spiritist Youth, in the headquarters of the former Spiritist League of the Federal District.

Leopoldo Machado died in Nova Iguaçu on 22 August 1957, leaving a legacy for the spiritist movement and also for culture.

The new generations received his generous contributions, which he encouraged in the creation of the Spiritist Youth and the Spiritist Schools of Child Evangelization, besides promoting the organization of Spiritist events all over the country. Travelling all over Brazil, he exalted the Gospel of Jesus and the Doctrine of the Spirits as the return of the revival of Christianity, in its purest sense, as it was preached in the House of the Way.