Euclides da Cunha
Encyclopedia
Euclides da Cunha (January 20, 1866 – August 15, 1909) was a Brazilian writer, 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 put it above Tolstoy
, the Russian writer. 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.
Euclides da Cunha was also heavily influenced by Naturalism
and its Darwinian
proponents. Os Sertões
characterised the coast of Brazil as a chain of civilisations while the interior was more primitively influenced.
Euclides da Cunha was the basis for the character of The Journalist in Mario Vargas Llosa
's The War of the End of the World
.
Euclides da Cunha occupied the 7th chair of the Brazilian Academy of Letters
from 1903 until his death in 1909.
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
and engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
. His most important work is Os Sertões
Os Sertões
Os Sertões is a book written by the Brazilian author Euclides da Cunha, widely considered one of the greatest achievements of Brazilian and even World literature...
(Rebellion in the Backlands), a non-fictional account of the military expeditions promoted by the Brazilian government against the rebellious village of Canudos
Canudos
Canudos was a town founded in the racially diverse Bahia state of northeastern Brazil in 1893 by Antônio Vicente Mendes Maciel. Antonio was an itinerant preacher from Ceara who had been wandering through the backroads and lesser-inhabited areas of the country from the 1870s onwards, followed by a...
, known as the War of Canudos
War of Canudos
The War of Canudos was a conflict between the state of Brazil and a group of some 30,000 settlers who had founded their own community in the northeastern state of Bahia, named Canudos...
. This book was a favorite of Robert Lowell
Robert Lowell
Robert Traill Spence Lowell IV was an American poet, considered the founder of the confessional poetry movement. He was appointed the sixth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress where he served from 1947 until 1948...
, who put it above Tolstoy
Tolstoy
Tolstoy, or Tolstoi is a prominent family of Russian nobility, descending from Andrey Kharitonovich Tolstoy who served under Vasily II of Moscow...
, the Russian writer. Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo , known as Jorge Luis Borges , was an Argentine writer, essayist, poet and translator born in Buenos Aires. In 1914 his family moved to Switzerland where he attended school, receiving his baccalauréat from the Collège de Genève in 1918. The family...
also commented on it in his short story "Three Versions of Judas
Three Versions of Judas
"Three versions of Judas" is a short story by Argentine writer and poet Jorge Luis Borges. It was included in Borges' anthology, Ficciones, published in 1944. Like several other Borges stories, it is written in form of a scholarly article...
". The book was translated into English by Samuel Putnam and published by the University of Chicago Press
University of Chicago Press
The University of Chicago Press is the largest university press in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including The Chicago Manual of Style, dozens of academic journals, including Critical Inquiry, and a wide array of...
in 1944. It remains in print.
Euclides da Cunha was also heavily influenced by Naturalism
Humanistic naturalism
Humanistic naturalism is the branch of philosophical naturalism wherein human beings are best able to control and understand the world through use of the scientific method. Concepts of spirituality, intuition, and metaphysics are not pursued because they are unfalsifiable, and therefore can never...
and its Darwinian
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
proponents. Os Sertões
Os Sertões
Os Sertões is a book written by the Brazilian author Euclides da Cunha, widely considered one of the greatest achievements of Brazilian and even World literature...
characterised the coast of Brazil as a chain of civilisations while the interior was more primitively influenced.
Euclides da Cunha was the basis for the character of The Journalist in Mario Vargas Llosa
Mario Vargas Llosa
Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, 1st Marquis of Vargas Llosa is a Peruvian-Spanish writer, politician, journalist, essayist, and Nobel Prize laureate. Vargas Llosa is one of Latin America's most significant novelists and essayists, and one of the leading authors of his generation...
's The War of the End of the World
The War of the End of the World
The War of the End of the World is a 1981 novel written by Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa. It is a novelization of the War of Canudos conflict in late 19th-century Brazil.-Plot summary:...
.
Euclides da Cunha occupied the 7th chair 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...
from 1903 until his death in 1909.
Timeline
- January 20, 1866, Euclides da Cunha was born in CantagaloCantagalo, Rio de JaneiroCantagalo is a city located in the east-central area of Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. The population, according to the 2004 census, is 20,557. Its area is 749 km² and the elevation is 391m...
, Rio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro (state)Rio de Janeiro is one of the 27 states of Brazil.Rio de Janeiro has the second largest economy of Brazil behind only São Paulo state.The state of Rio de Janeiro is located within the Brazilian geopolitical region classified as the Southeast...
, BrazilBrazilBrazil , 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...
, where he lived until he was three years old. - 1886 – Attended Escola Militar da Praia VermelhaInstituto Militar de EngenhariaThe Instituto Militar de Engenharia is an engineering university maintained by the Brazilian Army with Federal support. IME is the oldest and one of the best ranked engineering schools in Brazil, according to the Ministry of Education of that country...
, a military school in Rio. - 1888 – Expelled from the military school, due to his participation in an act of protest during a visit of the Brazilian War Minister, Tomás Coelho, who was a member of the last ConservativeConservatismConservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
cabinet of the Brazilian EmpireBrazilian EmpireThe Empire of Brazil was a 19th-century state that broadly comprised the territories which form modern Brazil. Its government was a representative parliamentary constitutional monarchy under the rule of Emperors Dom Pedro I and his son Dom Pedro II, both members of the House of Braganza—a...
. - 1889 – Admitted again to the Escola Militar.
- 1891 – Admitted to the Brazilian War School (Escola de Guerra).
- 1896 – Discharged from the Army in order to dedicate himself to studying civil engineeringCivil engineeringCivil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
. - 1897 – Accompanied the Army in the Campanha de Canudos, against a rebellious group of peasants under the leadership of Antonio ConselheiroAntônio ConselheiroAntônio Conselheiro was a Brazilian religious leader, preacher, and founder of the village of Canudos, the scene of the War of Canudos , a civil rebellion against the central government which was brutally stamped out with the loss of more than 15,000 lives.-Early...
. Between 7 August and 1 October, he was in the SertãoSertãoIn Portuguese, the word sertão first referred to the vast hinterlands of Asia that Lusitanian explorers encountered. In Brazil, the geographical term referred to backlands away from the Atlantic coastal regions where the Portuguese first settled in South America in the early sixteenth century...
("backland"), as war correspondentWar correspondentA war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories firsthand from a war zone. In the 19th century they were also called Special Correspondents.-Methods:...
for the O Estado de São Paulo newspaper. - 1903 – Elected to the Academia Brasileira de LetrasAcademia Brasileira de LetrasAcademia 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...
(Brazilian Academy of Letters). - 1903 – Established the Instituto Histórico e Geográfico, the Historical and Geographic Institute
- 1909 – Admitted as chairman and professor of LogicLogicIn philosophy, Logic is the formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and correct reasoning. Logic is used in most intellectual activities, but is studied primarily in the disciplines of philosophy, mathematics, semantics, and computer science...
at the Colégio Pedro II, a public secondary school in Rio. - August 15, 1909 – Tries to kill a young Army lieutenantLieutenantA lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
, who was the lover of his wife, but he shoots back in self defense and thus Euclides da Cunha is killed.
Works
- 1902 Os SertõesOs SertõesOs Sertões is a book written by the Brazilian author Euclides da Cunha, widely considered one of the greatest achievements of Brazilian and even World literature...
(Rebellion in the Backlands: University of Chicago Press ISBN 9780226124445) -- also Penguin Classics in a new translation, ISBN 9780143106074 - 1907 Contrastes e confrontos, lit. Contrasts and Confrontations
- 1907 Peru versus Bolívia
- 1939 Canudos, diário de uma expedição – news articles published in the periodical O Estado de São Paulo
- 1967 Canudos e inéditos – news articles published by the periodical O Estado de São Paulo
External links
- 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)