Euclides da Cunha

Brazilian journalist, sociologist and engineer

For other uses, see Euclides da Cunha (disambiguation).

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Euclides da Cunha

Born| (1866-01-20)January 20, 1866
Cantagalo, Rio de Janeiro, Empire of Brazil
Died| August 15, 1909(1909-08-15) (aged 43)
Piedade, Rio de Janeiro
Occupation| Journalist
Sociologist
Engineer
Nationality| Brazilian
Genre| Poetry
Signature

Euclides da Cunha[1] (Portuguese: [ewˈklidʒiʒ dɐ ˈkũɲɐ], January 20, 1866 – August 15, 1909) was a Brazilian journalist, sociologist and engineer. His most important work is Os Sertões (Rebellion in the Backlands), a non-fictional account of the military expeditions promoted by the Brazilian government against the rebellious village of Canudos, known as the War of Canudos.

This book was a favorite of Robert Lowell, who ranked it above Tolstoy. Jorge Luis Borges also commented on it in his short story "Three Versions of Judas". The book was translated into English by Samuel Putnam and published by the University of Chicago Press in 1944. It remains in print. He was heavily influenced by Naturalism and its Darwinian proponents. Os Sertões characterised the coast of Brazil as a chain of civilisations while the interior remained more primitive. He occupied the 7th chair of the Brazilian Academy of Letters from 1903 until his death in 1909.

He served as inspiration for the character of The Journalist in Mario Vargas Llosa's The War of the End of the World.

## Timeline

[edit]

Euclides da Cunha from a publication of F.Briguiet & Cie. (1890s)

Euclides da Cunha was born January 20, 1866, in Cantagalo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he lived until he was three years old.[2] His grandparents were of Portuguese origin. He attended in 1885 Escola Politécnica, and after he attended Escola Militar da Praia Vermelha, a military school in Rio, beginning in 1886. He was expelled from the military school in 1888, due to his participation in an act of protest during a visit of the Brazilian War Minister, Tomás Coelho [pt], who was a member of the last Conservative cabinet of the Brazilian Empire. He was readmitted to the Escola Militar in 1889. He was admitted to the Brazilian War School (Escola de Guerra) in 1891 . He was discharged from the Army in 1896 in order to dedicate himself to studying civil engineering.

In 1897 he accompanied the Army in the Campanha de Canudos, against a rebellious group of peasants under the leadership of Antonio Conselheiro. Between 7 August and 1 October, he was in the Sertão ("backland"), as war correspondent for the O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper.[2] In 1903 he was elected to the Academia Brasileira de Letras (Brazilian Academy of Letters) and the Instituto Histórico e Geográfico, the Historical and Geographic Institute[3] In 1904, Da Cunha was employed on a joint Brazilian-Peruvian expedition to determine a border between the countries. This expedition travelled down the Purus River, which was heavily exploited by rubber tappers.[4] During this time, Da Cunha produced his essay "Os Caucheros" which provides an architype for the "cauchero" or rubber tapper. According to historian Susanna B. Hecht, who wrote The Scramble for the Amazon and the Lost Paradise of Euclides Da Cunha, Carlos Scharff, a successful rubber baron on the Purus River, was "the model for the Caucho King in Da Cunha's essay Os Caucheiros".[5] In 1909 Da Cunha was admitted as chairman and professor of Logic at the Colégio Pedro II, a public secondary school in Rio.

Euclides da Cunha married Ana Emília Ribeiro, daughter of major Sólon Ribeiro, in 1890. The couple had five children. Ana Emília had an affair with Dilermando de Assis, a young Army lieutenant. On August 15, 1909, finding about his wife's affair, da Cunha went to Assis' house to kill him. He shot Assis and his brother Dinorah, failing to kill either. Assis shot da Cunha when Euclides had already left his house, and the writer was killed. According to Hecht's account, there was doubt whether Dilermando murdered a fleeing man who had run out of bullets, or whether Euclides still was a threat to Dilermando (which would make the murder self-defense.) The jury decided for the latter scenario and acquitted Dilermando. [6][7] Da Cunha was 43 years old.

## Works

[edit]

* 1902 Os Sertões (Rebellion in the Backlands: University of Chicago Press ISBN 978-0-226-12444-5) -- also Penguin Classics in a new translation, ISBN 978-0-14-310607-4
* 1907 Contrastes e confrontos, lit. Contrasts and Confrontations
* 1907 Peru versus Bolívia
* 1909 À margem da história \- series of essays written by Da Cunha after the Peruvian-Brazilian joint expedition on the Upper Amazon.
* 1939 Canudos, diário de uma expedição – news articles published in the periodical O Estado de S. Paulo
* 1967 Canudos e inéditos – news articles published by the periodical O Estado de S. Paulo

## Further reading

[edit]

* Goldberg, Isaac (1922). "Euclides da Cunha." In: Brazilian Literature. New York: Alfred A. Knoff, pp. 210–221.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Archaic spelling: Euclydes
2. ^ a b "cronologia". euclides da cunha site. Juan Carlos / WordPress. Archived from the original on October 4, 2011. Retrieved February 23, 2015.
3. ^ "Euclides da Cunha". E-Biografias. January 19, 2015. Retrieved February 23, 2015.
4. ^ Hecht 2013, p. 9.
5. ^ Hecht 2013, p. 267.
6. ^ Hecht 2013, p. 467.
7. ^ "Filha busca Justiça histórica para pai, que matou Euclides da Cunha". entretenimento.uol.com.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2019-07-10.

### Bibliography

[edit]

* Hecht, Susanna (2013). The Scramble for the Amazon and the Lost Paradise of Euclides Da Cunha. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226322834.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Euclides da Cunha.

* Euclides da Cunha site, Biography and works (in Portuguese)
* Casa Euclidiana, São José do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, Brazil (in Portuguese)
* Short biography in English (down the article)
* Works by or about Euclides da Cunha at the Internet Archive
* Works by Euclides da Cunha at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)

Preceded by

Valentim Magalhães (founder)

Brazilian Academy of Letters \- Occupant of the 7th chair
1903 — 1909  | Succeeded by

Afrânio Peixoto

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Patrons and members of the Brazilian Academy of Letters

Chairs
1 to 10|

1 (Adelino Fontoura): Luís Murat ► Afonso d'Escragnolle Taunay ► Ivan Monteiro de Barros Lins ► Bernardo Élis ► Evandro Lins e Silva ► Ana Maria Machado
2 (Álvares de Azevedo): Coelho Neto ► João Neves da Fontoura ► João Guimarães Rosa ► Mário Palmério ► Tarcísio Padilha ► Eduardo Giannetti da Fonseca
3 (Artur de Oliveira): Filinto de Almeida ► Roberto Simonsen ► Aníbal Freire da Fonseca ► Herberto Sales ► Carlos Heitor Cony ► Joaquim Falcão
4 (Basílio da Gama): Aluísio Azevedo ► Alcides Maia ► Viana Moog ► Carlos Nejar
5 (Bernardo Guimarães): Raimundo Correia ► Oswaldo Cruz ► Aloísio de Castro ► Cândido Mota Filho ► Rachel de Queiroz ► José Murilo de Carvalho ► Ailton Krenak
6 (Casimiro de Abreu): Teixeira de Melo ► Artur Jaceguai ► Goulart de Andrade ► Barbosa Lima Sobrinho ► Raimundo Faoro ► Cícero Sandroni
7 (Castro Alves): Valentim Magalhães ► Euclides da Cunha ► Afrânio Peixoto ► Afonso Pena Júnior ► Hermes Lima ► Pontes de Miranda ► Diná Silveira de Queirós ► Sérgio Correia da Costa ► Nelson Pereira dos Santos ► Cacá Diegues
8 (Cláudio Manuel da Costa): Alberto de Oliveira ► Oliveira Viana ► Austregésilo de Athayde ► Antônio Calado ► Antônio Olinto ► Cleonice Berardinelli ► Ricardo Cavaliere
9 (Gonçalves de Magalhães): Carlos Magalhães de Azeredo ► Marques Rebelo ► Carlos Chagas Filho ► Alberto da Costa e Silva ► Lilia Moritz Schwarcz
10 (Evaristo da Veiga): Rui Barbosa ► Laudelino Freire ► Osvaldo Orico ► Orígenes Lessa ► Lêdo Ivo ► Rosiska Darcy de Oliveira

Chairs
11 to 20|

11 (Fagundes Varela): Lúcio de Mendonça ► Pedro Augusto Carneiro Lessa ► Eduardo Ramos ► João Luís Alves ► Adelmar Tavares ► Deolindo Couto ► Darcy Ribeiro ► Celso Furtado ► Hélio Jaguaribe ► Ignácio de Loyola Brandão
12 (França Júnior): Urbano Duarte de Oliveira ► Antônio Augusto de Lima ► Vítor Viana ► José Carlos de Macedo Soares ► Abgar Renault ► Lucas Moreira Neves ► Alfredo Bosi ► Paulo Niemeyer Filho
13 (Francisco Otaviano): Alfredo d'Escragnolle Taunay ► Francisco de Castro ► Martins Júnior ► Sousa Bandeira ► Hélio Lobo ► Augusto Meyer ► Francisco de Assis Barbosa ► Sérgio Paulo Rouanet ► Ruy Castro
14 (Franklin Távora): Clóvis Beviláqua ► Antônio Carneiro Leão ► Fernando de Azevedo ► Miguel Reale ► Celso Lafer
15 (Gonçalves Dias): Olavo Bilac ► Amadeu Amaral ► Guilherme de Almeida ► Odilo Costa Filho ► Marcos Barbosa ► Fernando Bastos de Ávila ► Marco Lucchesi
16 (Gregório de Matos): Araripe Júnior ► Félix Pacheco ► Pedro Calmon ► Lygia Fagundes Telles ► Jorge Caldeira
17 (Hipólito da Costa): Sílvio Romero ► Osório Duque-Estrada ► Edgar Roquette-Pinto ► Álvaro Lins ► Antônio Houaiss ► Affonso Arinos de Mello Franco ► Fernanda Montenegro
18 (João Francisco Lisboa): José Veríssimo ► Barão Homem de Melo ► Alberto Faria ► Luís Carlos ► Pereira da Silva ► Peregrino Júnior ► Arnaldo Niskier
19 (Joaquim Caetano): Alcindo Guanabara ► Silvério Gomes Pimenta ► Gustavo Barroso ► Silva Melo ► Américo Jacobina Lacombe ► Marcos Almir Madeira ► Antônio Carlos Secchin
20 (Joaquim Manuel de Macedo): Salvador de Mendonça ► Emílio de Meneses ► Humberto de Campos ► Múcio Leão ► Aurélio de Lira Tavares ► Murilo Melo Filho ► Gilberto Gil

Chairs
21 to 30|

21 (Joaquim Serra): José do Patrocínio ► Mário de Alencar ► Olegário Mariano ► Álvaro Moreira ► Adonias Filho ► Dias Gomes ► Roberto Campos ► Paulo Coelho
22 (José Bonifácio the Younger): Medeiros e Albuquerque ► Miguel Osório de Almeida ► Luís Viana Filho ► Ivo Pitanguy ► João Almino
23 (José de Alencar): Machado de Assis ► Lafayette Rodrigues Pereira ► Alfredo Pujol ► Otávio Mangabeira ► Jorge Amado ► Zélia Gattai ► Luiz Paulo Horta ► Antônio Torres
24 (Júlio Ribeiro): Garcia Redondo ► Luís Guimarães Filho ► Manuel Bandeira ► Cyro dos Anjos ► Sábato Magaldi ► Geraldo Carneiro
25 (Junqueira Freire): Franklin Dória ► Artur Orlando da Silva ► Ataulfo de Paiva ► José Lins do Rego ► Afonso Arinos de Melo Franco ► Alberto Venancio Filho
26 (Laurindo Rabelo): Guimarães Passos ► João do Rio ► Constâncio Alves ► Ribeiro Couto ► Gilberto Amado ► Mauro Mota ► Marcos Vilaça
27 (Antônio Peregrino Maciel Monteiro): Joaquim Nabuco ► Dantas Barreto ► Gregório da Fonseca ► Levi Carneiro ► Otávio de Faria ► Eduardo Portella ► Antonio Cicero ► Vacant
28 (Manuel Antônio de Almeida): Inglês de Sousa ► Xavier Marques ► Menotti Del Picchia ► Oscar Dias Correia ► Domício Proença Filho
29 (Martins Pena): Artur Azevedo ► Vicente de Carvalho ► Cláudio de Sousa ► Josué Montello ► José Mindlin ► Geraldo Holanda Cavalcanti
30 (Pardal Mallet): Pedro Rabelo ► Heráclito Graça ► Antônio Austregésilo ► Aurélio Buarque de Holanda Ferreira ► Nélida Piñon ► Heloísa Teixeira

Chairs
31 to 40|

31 (Pedro Luís Pereira de Sousa): Luís Caetano Pereira Guimarães Júnior ► João Batista Ribeiro de Andrade Fernandes ► Paulo Setúbal ► Cassiano Ricardo ► José Cândido de Carvalho ► Geraldo França de Lima ► Moacyr Scliar ► Merval Pereira
32 (Manuel de Araújo Porto-Alegre): Carlos de Laet ► Ramiz Galvão ► Viriato Correia ► Joracy Camargo ► Genolino Amado ► Ariano Suassuna ► Zuenir Ventura
33 (Raul Pompeia): Domício da Gama ► Fernando Magalhães ► Luís Edmundo ► Afrânio Coutinho ► Evanildo Bechara
34 (Sousa Caldas): João Manuel Pereira da Silva ► José Maria da Silva Paranhos Jr. ► Lauro Müller ► Aquino Correia ► Magalhães Júnior ► Carlos Castelo Branco ► João Ubaldo Ribeiro ► Zuenir Ventura ► Evaldo Cabral de Mello
35 (Tavares Bastos): Rodrigo Otávio ► Rodrigo Otávio Filho ► José Honório Rodrigues ► Celso Cunha ► Cândido Mendes de Almeida ► Godofredo de Oliveira Neto
36 (Teófilo Dias): Afonso Celso ► Clementino Fraga ► Paulo Carneiro ► José Guilherme Merquior ► João de Scantimburgo ► Fernando Henrique Cardoso
37 (Tomás António Gonzaga): José Júlio da Silva Ramos ► José de Alcântara Machado ► Getúlio Vargas ► Assis Chateaubriand ► João Cabral de Melo Neto ► Ivan Junqueira ► Ferreira Gullar ► Arno Wehling
38 (Tobias Barreto): Graça Aranha ► Alberto Santos-Dumont ► Celso Vieira ► Maurício Campos de Medeiros ► José Américo de Almeida ► José Sarney
39 (Francisco Adolfo de Varnhagen): Manuel de Oliveira Lima ► Alberto de Faria ► Rocha Pombo ► Rodolfo Garcia ► Elmano Cardim ► Otto Lara Resende ► Roberto Marinho ► Marco Maciel ► José Paulo Cavalcanti Filho
40 (José Maria da Silva Paranhos Sr.): Eduardo Prado ► Afonso Arinos ► Miguel Couto ► Alceu Amoroso Lima ► Evaristo de Moraes Filho ► Edmar Bacha

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