Assis 'Chatô' Chateaubriand
Encyclopedia
Francisco de Assis Chateaubriand Bandeira de Melo, best known as Assis Chateaubriand and also nicknamed Chatô (October 4, 1892 – April 4, 1968), was a Brazil
ian lawyer
, journalist
, politician
and diplomat
. He was born in Umbuzeiro
, state of Paraíba
, in the Northeast of Brazil, on October 4, 1892, and died on April 4, 1968, in São Paulo
. He was one of the most influential public figures in Brazil during the 1940s and the 1950s, becoming notable as a journalist, an entrepreneur
, an arts patron
as well as a politician. Chateaubriand was appointed Embassador of Brazil to the United Kingdom
, position he held from 1957 to 1961. He was also a lawyer and Professor of Law
, writer
and member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters
, occupying its 37th chair from 1954 until his death in 1968.
Chateaubriand was a media mogul
in Brazil between the late 1930s and the early 1960s and the owner of Diários Associados
, a conglomerate that counted at its peak more than a hundred newspaper
s, radio and TV stations
, magazine
s and a telegraphic
agency. He is also known as the co-creator and founder, in 1947, of the São Paulo Museum of Art (MASP), together with Pietro Maria Bardi
. Chateubriand also founded the first television network
of Latin America
and the fifth in the world (Tupi TV). He was Senator
of the Republic between 1952 and 1957.
An often polemic and controversial
figure, hated and feared, Chateaubriand has also been nicknamed “the Brazilian Citizen Kane
” and accused of unethical
behavior, for allegedly blackmail
ing companies that did not place ads in his media vehicles, and for insulting entrepreneurs with lies (such as industry owner Francisco Matarazzo
Jr.). His empire would have been built based on political
interests and agreements, including tumultuous but profitable ties with Brazilian President Getúlio Vargas
.
: 34 newspapers, 36 radio stations, 18 television stations, one news agency, one weekly magazine (O Cruzeiro), one monthly magazine (A Cigarra) as well as many magazines for children.
Chateaubriand began as a journalist at the age of 15, working for the newspaper Gazeta do Norte. He also wrote for Jornal Pequeno
and Diário de Pernambuco
. In 1917, having moved to Rio de Janeiro
, he worked for Correio da Manhã
. In this newspaper, he would publish his impressions about his trip to Europe
, in 1920.
In 1924, Chatô became the director of O Jornal. This was his first step toward building his press empire, to which were added important newspapers from Brazil, such as Diário de Pernambuco (the oldest newspaper in Latin America) and Jornal do Commercio (the oldest newspaper in Rio de Janeiro). In the following year, a newspaper from São Paulo
was added to his press conglomerate: Diário da Noite.
From a meager and troublesome youth in the northeast of Brazil – he only learned how to read at the age of 10 – Chateaubriand followed the trail of a self-made man into a position of quasi monopoly in Brazilian press. In the state of Pernambuco
, as a young lawyer, he rapidly grew to fame through a series of verbal clashes, or polemics, with political and literary figures. At the same time, he managed, still in his twenties, to become Professor of Roman Law
at the Law Faculty of Recife, after a hard-fought examination, being formally appointed for the post only after various clashes with the state's politicos, among them General Dantas Barreto and Dr. Manuel Borba. During his struggle he made powerful friends and allies in Rio de Janeiro. What finally settled the battle was a telegram from the president of the republic, Wenceslau Brás, on December 8, 1915. His stunning victory in attaining the position as professor further became a platform for his even more ambitious goal; to own a newspaper of his own by the age of thirty. Intelligent, learned, hard-headed and stubborn, he soon earned a reputation as a self-made man, who had no scruples about approaching and lobbying for influential people who might be serviceable to his personal interests; already as a teenager, he had already made friends with the powerful local Lundgren family of industrialists.
After moving to Rio, Chateaubriand worked as a journalist and lawyer, and it was in the latter capacity that he made friends with influential people, especially magnates connected with the interests of foreign corporations who wanted to hedge through lobbying against nationalist politics, among them the public utilities trust Light & Co's CEO Alexander McKenzie and the American mining magnate Percival Farqhuar
. After becoming a press tycoon, he eventually combined undeniable journalistic feeling with a totally unscrupulous behaviour, using as his main tool for money making the most extensive use of libel and blackmail, directed against magnates and authorities.: in the promotion of his pet projects – as in his campaign for the building of airports and training of pilots across Brazil – he would resort to any means whatsoever, having even ordered his thugs to shoot a German businessman who refused to be blackmailed by him Later in life, he would refurbish his São Paulo Museum of Art (MASP
) with a whole collection of old European masters' works purchased at bargain prices in impoverished post-WW II Europe, by using funds extorted through blackmail from various Brazilian businessmen. Chateaubriand never made a great secret about his peculiar business strategies: "excellency in business means buying without money" he once allegedly said.
in the in USA. Chateaubriand was one of the most influential individuals in Brazilian history. He was known for having strong ties to the current leaders within both politics and economy. With a career as solicitor, journalist, media mogul, ambassador and senator, he often was the decisive drop on the scale of political campaigns and decisions. He was part of the creation of presidents and the undisputed ruler of Brazilian press. At the same time, he always lacked a clear ideological agenda – except for being a staunch partisan of the untrammeled Free Market and of consented submission to imperialist interests. At the end of his life – especially after a stroke in 1960, that left him speechless, using a wheelchair and communicating with others mostly by means of notes typed in a specially adapted typewriter
– he had become a clownish shadow of himself, "a blackmailer who acted as an interloper in the power game of the ruling class". His media empire, after decades of personal mismanagement, quickly declined after his death. In the new ambience of a modernized Brazil, he was quickly dislocated by the new professionally managed, streamlined, more ideologically coherent and at the time military dictatorship-friendly Rede Globo
.
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
, journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
and diplomat
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
. He was born in Umbuzeiro
Umbuzeiro
Umbuzeiro is a town and municipality in the state of Paraíba in the Northeast Region of Brazil.-References:...
, state of Paraíba
Paraíba
Paraíba Paraíba Paraíba (Tupi: pa'ra a'íba: "bad to navigation"; Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: is a state of Brazil. It is located in the Brazilian Northeast, and is bordered by Rio Grande do Norte to the north, Ceará to the west, Pernambuco to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the east...
, in the Northeast of Brazil, on October 4, 1892, and died on April 4, 1968, in São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
. He was one of the most influential public figures in Brazil during the 1940s and the 1950s, becoming notable as a journalist, an entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
, an arts patron
Patronage
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows to another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings or popes have provided to musicians, painters, and sculptors...
as well as a politician. Chateaubriand was appointed Embassador of Brazil to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, position he held from 1957 to 1961. He was also a lawyer and Professor of Law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
and member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters
Academia Brasileira de Letras
Academia Brasileira de Letras is a Brazilian literary non-profit society established at the end of the 19th century by a group of 40 writers and poets inspired by the Académie Française. The first president, Machado de Assis, declared its foundation on December 15, 1896, with the statutes being...
, occupying its 37th chair from 1954 until his death in 1968.
Chateaubriand was a media mogul
Media proprietor
A media proprietor is a person who controls, either through personal ownership or a dominant position in any media enterprise. Those with significant control of a public company in the mass media may also be called "media moguls", "tycoons", "barons", or "bosses".The figure of the media proprietor...
in Brazil between the late 1930s and the early 1960s and the owner of Diários Associados
Diários Associados
The Diários Associados, or Associated Dailies, are a union of Brazilian communication media created by Assis Chateaubriand.Diários Associados owned Rede Tupi, the first Brazilian Television Network, through its affiate, the Rede de Emissoras Associadas, from 1950 to 1980.Today the group has 50...
, a conglomerate that counted at its peak more than a hundred newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
s, radio and TV stations
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
, magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
s and a telegraphic
Telegraphy
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages via some form of signalling technology. Telegraphy requires messages to be converted to a code which is known to both sender and receiver...
agency. He is also known as the co-creator and founder, in 1947, of the São Paulo Museum of Art (MASP), together with Pietro Maria Bardi
Pietro Maria Bardi
Pietro Maria Bardi was the curator of the São Paulo Museum of Art, Brazil. He was born Italian and stirred the Brazilian artistic community with his new ideas about popularizing museums by making both modern and classical art accessible to the masses...
. Chateubriand also founded the first television network
Television network
A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...
of Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
and the fifth in the world (Tupi TV). He was Senator
Senate of Brazil
The Federal Senate of Brazil is the upper house of the National Congress of Brazil. Created by the first Constitution of the Brazilian Empire in 1824, it was inspired by the United Kingdom's House of Lords, but with the Proclamation of the Republic in 1889 it became closer to the United States...
of the Republic between 1952 and 1957.
An often polemic and controversial
Controversy
Controversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of opinion. The word was coined from the Latin controversia, as a composite of controversus – "turned in an opposite direction," from contra – "against" – and vertere – to turn, or versus , hence, "to turn...
figure, hated and feared, Chateaubriand has also been nicknamed “the Brazilian Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane is a 1941 American drama film, directed by and starring Orson Welles. Many critics consider it the greatest American film of all time, especially for its innovative cinematography, music and narrative structure. Citizen Kane was Welles' first feature film...
” and accused of unethical
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
behavior, for allegedly blackmail
Blackmail
In common usage, blackmail is a crime involving threats to reveal substantially true or false information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a demand is met. It may be defined as coercion involving threats of physical harm, threat of criminal prosecution, or threats...
ing companies that did not place ads in his media vehicles, and for insulting entrepreneurs with lies (such as industry owner Francisco Matarazzo
Francesco Matarazzo
Francesco Matarazzo, was an Italian historian of the European Renaissance. His fame rests largely on his masterwork Chronicles of the City of Perugia 1492-1503 which has become a primary source for many later historians of the Italian Renaissance and in particular the city of...
Jr.). His empire would have been built based on political
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
interests and agreements, including tumultuous but profitable ties with Brazilian President Getúlio Vargas
Getúlio Vargas
Getúlio Dornelles Vargas served as President of Brazil, first as dictator, from 1930 to 1945, and in a democratically elected term from 1951 until his suicide in 1954. Vargas led Brazil for 18 years, the most for any President, and second in Brazilian history to Emperor Pedro II...
.
Biography
Assis Chateaubriand was founder and director of the then main press chain of Brazil, the Diários AssociadosDiários Associados
The Diários Associados, or Associated Dailies, are a union of Brazilian communication media created by Assis Chateaubriand.Diários Associados owned Rede Tupi, the first Brazilian Television Network, through its affiate, the Rede de Emissoras Associadas, from 1950 to 1980.Today the group has 50...
: 34 newspapers, 36 radio stations, 18 television stations, one news agency, one weekly magazine (O Cruzeiro), one monthly magazine (A Cigarra) as well as many magazines for children.
Chateaubriand began as a journalist at the age of 15, working for the newspaper Gazeta do Norte. He also wrote for Jornal Pequeno
Jornal Pequeno
Jornal Pequeno is a Brazilian newspaper. It is published in the Brazilian state of Maranhão. This newspaper claims to be against corruption. "Jornal Pequeno" means "small newspaper" in Portuguese....
and Diário de Pernambuco
Diário de Pernambuco
Diario de Pernambuco Brazilian newspaper, is the oldest continuously circulating daily in Latin America, founded on 7 November 1825. It is also the oldest continuously circulating periodical edited in Portuguese and the oldest in Latin America. The newspaper is published in Recife, Brazil....
. In 1917, having moved to Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
, he worked for Correio da Manhã
Correio da Manhã (Brazil)
Correio da Manhã was a Brazilian daily newspaper, published in Rio de Janeiro, from June 5, 1901 to July 8, 1974. It was an important part of the Brazilian press during most of its run...
. In this newspaper, he would publish his impressions about his trip to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, in 1920.
In 1924, Chatô became the director of O Jornal. This was his first step toward building his press empire, to which were added important newspapers from Brazil, such as Diário de Pernambuco (the oldest newspaper in Latin America) and Jornal do Commercio (the oldest newspaper in Rio de Janeiro). In the following year, a newspaper from São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
was added to his press conglomerate: Diário da Noite.
From a meager and troublesome youth in the northeast of Brazil – he only learned how to read at the age of 10 – Chateaubriand followed the trail of a self-made man into a position of quasi monopoly in Brazilian press. In the state of Pernambuco
Pernambuco
Pernambuco is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. To the north are the states of Paraíba and Ceará, to the west is Piauí, to the south are Alagoas and Bahia, and to the east is the Atlantic Ocean. There are about of beaches, some of the most beautiful in the...
, as a young lawyer, he rapidly grew to fame through a series of verbal clashes, or polemics, with political and literary figures. At the same time, he managed, still in his twenties, to become Professor of Roman Law
Roman law
Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, and the legal developments which occurred before the 7th century AD — when the Roman–Byzantine state adopted Greek as the language of government. The development of Roman law comprises more than a thousand years of jurisprudence — from the Twelve...
at the Law Faculty of Recife, after a hard-fought examination, being formally appointed for the post only after various clashes with the state's politicos, among them General Dantas Barreto and Dr. Manuel Borba. During his struggle he made powerful friends and allies in Rio de Janeiro. What finally settled the battle was a telegram from the president of the republic, Wenceslau Brás, on December 8, 1915. His stunning victory in attaining the position as professor further became a platform for his even more ambitious goal; to own a newspaper of his own by the age of thirty. Intelligent, learned, hard-headed and stubborn, he soon earned a reputation as a self-made man, who had no scruples about approaching and lobbying for influential people who might be serviceable to his personal interests; already as a teenager, he had already made friends with the powerful local Lundgren family of industrialists.
After moving to Rio, Chateaubriand worked as a journalist and lawyer, and it was in the latter capacity that he made friends with influential people, especially magnates connected with the interests of foreign corporations who wanted to hedge through lobbying against nationalist politics, among them the public utilities trust Light & Co's CEO Alexander McKenzie and the American mining magnate Percival Farqhuar
Percival Farqhuar
Percival Farquhar was an American businessman, whose dealings in Latin America are the subject of constant criticism....
. After becoming a press tycoon, he eventually combined undeniable journalistic feeling with a totally unscrupulous behaviour, using as his main tool for money making the most extensive use of libel and blackmail, directed against magnates and authorities.: in the promotion of his pet projects – as in his campaign for the building of airports and training of pilots across Brazil – he would resort to any means whatsoever, having even ordered his thugs to shoot a German businessman who refused to be blackmailed by him Later in life, he would refurbish his São Paulo Museum of Art (MASP
Masp
MASP is an abbreviation for:* São Paulo Museum of Art * Mid Atlantic Star Party*MASP *MASP1 *MASP2...
) with a whole collection of old European masters' works purchased at bargain prices in impoverished post-WW II Europe, by using funds extorted through blackmail from various Brazilian businessmen. Chateaubriand never made a great secret about his peculiar business strategies: "excellency in business means buying without money" he once allegedly said.
Historical influence
If one man is to be pointed out as having formed the basis for a modern Brazilian press and mass culture, it has to be Francisco de Assis Chateaubriand Bandeira de Melo. His power over Brazilian media – as well as his lack of scruples, his upstart drive and gangster-like ethos – during his height from the 1920s and well into the '60s can be compared to that of William Randolph HearstWilliam Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst was an American business magnate and leading newspaper publisher. Hearst entered the publishing business in 1887, after taking control of The San Francisco Examiner from his father...
in the in USA. Chateaubriand was one of the most influential individuals in Brazilian history. He was known for having strong ties to the current leaders within both politics and economy. With a career as solicitor, journalist, media mogul, ambassador and senator, he often was the decisive drop on the scale of political campaigns and decisions. He was part of the creation of presidents and the undisputed ruler of Brazilian press. At the same time, he always lacked a clear ideological agenda – except for being a staunch partisan of the untrammeled Free Market and of consented submission to imperialist interests. At the end of his life – especially after a stroke in 1960, that left him speechless, using a wheelchair and communicating with others mostly by means of notes typed in a specially adapted typewriter
Typewriter
A typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical device with keys that, when pressed, cause characters to be printed on a medium, usually paper. Typically one character is printed per keypress, and the machine prints the characters by making ink impressions of type elements similar to the pieces...
– he had become a clownish shadow of himself, "a blackmailer who acted as an interloper in the power game of the ruling class". His media empire, after decades of personal mismanagement, quickly declined after his death. In the new ambience of a modernized Brazil, he was quickly dislocated by the new professionally managed, streamlined, more ideologically coherent and at the time military dictatorship-friendly Rede Globo
Rede Globo
Rede Globo , or simply Globo, is a Brazilian television network, launched by media mogul Roberto Marinho on April 26, 1965. It is owned by media conglomerate Organizações Globo, being by far the largest of its holdings...
.
Books
- Morais, Fernando (1994). Chatô - O rei do Brasil (1st ed.). São Paulo: Editora Schwarcz LTDA (Cia. das Letras). ISBN 85-7164-396-2.