Raul Pompéia
Encyclopedia
Raul d'Ávila Pompeia was a Brazil
ian novel
ist, short story
writer and chronicler. He is famous for the Impressionist
romance O Ateneu
.
He is patron of the 33rd chair of the Brazilian Academy of Letters
.
, Abílio César Borges, where he was a good student, and the editor of school journal O Archote. In 1879, he was transferred to Colégio Pedro II
, where he was developed as a orator and wrote his first book, Uma Tragédia no Amazonas.
In 1881 he moves to São Paulo
in order to graduate in Law
, where he was influenced by the Abolitionist
and Republican
ideals, and befriended Abolitionist Luís Gama
. He wrote for many journals of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, frequently under pen name
Rapp, but he had many others, such as Pompeu Stell, Um moço do povo, Lauro, Fabricius, Raul D., Raulino Palma. He published his book Canções Sem Metro and the novel
As Joias da Coroa in the Jornal do Commercio.
After being reproved in 1883, he moved to Recife
and there he concluded his Law course. Returning once more to Rio, he wrote his masterpiece O Ateneu
in 1888.
After the Lei Áurea
was proclaimed, Pompeia dedicated himself exclusively to the Republicanism, considering himself as a "Jacobin" (i.e., a partisan of an authoritarian, military-led and nationalist régime whose ideological basis would be Comtean positivism
). After the republic was proclaimed in Brazil, he became Mythology
teacher in the Escola Nacional de Belas Artes
and director of the National Library of Brazil
, being named for both positions by Brazilian president
Floriano Peixoto
. However, as a diehard florianista, he was eventually fired from his post by President Prudente de Morais
, towards whom he was charged with disrespect in a speech he made at the burial of Floriano Peixoto, who had died untimely shortly after the end of his presidential term. He had already been personally slandered for his allegedly closet homosexuality
— something which led him to challenge his former friend, the poet Olavo Bilac
, to a duel
in 1892; he had also broken other friendships in the same resounding fashion. Eventually, he suffered a fatal breakdown: after being slandered for his Floriano speech in a piece by journalist Luís Murat entitled "A Madman in the Cemetery", feeling himself scorned everywhere, he killed himself on Christmas
, 1895.
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 novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
ist, short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
writer and chronicler. He is famous for the Impressionist
Impressionism (literature)
Influenced by the Impressionist art movement, many writers adopted a style that relied on associations. The Dutch Tachtigers explicitly tried to incorporate impressionism into their prose, poems, and other literary works...
romance O Ateneu
O Ateneu
O Ateneu is a novel written by Brazilian author Raul Pompéia in 1888, which it is considered one of the most prominent examples of Brazilian Realism and Naturalism. The book narrates, in the first person, the story of Sérgio, an eleven year old boy who is sent to a well-respected all-male boarding...
.
He is patron of the 33rd 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...
.
Biography
Pompeia was born in 1863, to Antônio d'Ávila Pompeia and Rosa Teixeira Pompeia. He ingressed in the Colégio Abílio, run by the Baron of MacaúbasMacaúbas
Macaúbas is a town and municipality in the state of Bahia in the North-East region of Brazil. Its population in 2004 was 45 301 inhabitants. The municipality covers an area of 3039 km ². It lies in the call Physiographic Zone of the Serra Geral, the Chapada Diamantina Southern microregion...
, Abílio César Borges, where he was a good student, and the editor of school journal O Archote. In 1879, he was transferred to Colégio Pedro II
Colégio Pedro II (Rio de Janeiro)
Colégio Pedro II is a Federal Public School named after Pedro II of Brazil. It was founded on December 2 1837, and made official by Imperial decree on December 20 of the same year. It was named after the Emperor, since it was founded on his birthday....
, where he was developed as a orator and wrote his first book, Uma Tragédia no Amazonas.
In 1881 he moves to 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...
in order to graduate in 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...
, where he was influenced by the Abolitionist
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
and Republican
Republicanism
Republicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, where the head of state is appointed by means other than heredity, often elections. The exact meaning of republicanism varies depending on the cultural and historical context...
ideals, and befriended Abolitionist Luís Gama
Luís Gama
Luís Gonzaga Pinto da Gama was a Brazilian Romantic poet, journalist, lawyer and a proeminent abolitionist.-Life:...
. He wrote for many journals of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, frequently under pen name
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
Rapp, but he had many others, such as Pompeu Stell, Um moço do povo, Lauro, Fabricius, Raul D., Raulino Palma. He published his book Canções Sem Metro and the novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
As Joias da Coroa in the Jornal do Commercio.
After being reproved in 1883, he moved to Recife
Recife
Recife is the fifth-largest metropolitan area in Brazil with 4,136,506 inhabitants, the largest metropolitan area of the North/Northeast Regions, the 5th-largest metropolitan influence area in Brazil, and the capital and largest city of the state of Pernambuco. The population of the city proper...
and there he concluded his Law course. Returning once more to Rio, he wrote his masterpiece O Ateneu
O Ateneu
O Ateneu is a novel written by Brazilian author Raul Pompéia in 1888, which it is considered one of the most prominent examples of Brazilian Realism and Naturalism. The book narrates, in the first person, the story of Sérgio, an eleven year old boy who is sent to a well-respected all-male boarding...
in 1888.
After the Lei Áurea
Lei Áurea
The Lei Áurea , adopted on May 13, 1888, was the law that abolished slavery in Brazil.It was preceded by the Rio Branco Law of September 28, 1871 , which freed all children born to slave parents, and by the Saraiva-Cotegipe Law , of September 28, 1885, that freed slaves when they reached the age of...
was proclaimed, Pompeia dedicated himself exclusively to the Republicanism, considering himself as a "Jacobin" (i.e., a partisan of an authoritarian, military-led and nationalist régime whose ideological basis would be Comtean positivism
Positivism
Positivism is a a view of scientific methods and a philosophical approach, theory, or system based on the view that, in the social as well as natural sciences, sensory experiences and their logical and mathematical treatment are together the exclusive source of all worthwhile information....
). After the republic was proclaimed in Brazil, he became Mythology
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
teacher in the Escola Nacional de Belas Artes
Escola Nacional de Belas Artes
Escola de Belas Artes is one of the centers of the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro and dates back to colonial times....
and director of the National Library of Brazil
National Library of Brazil
The Biblioteca Nacional do Brasil is the depository of the bibliographic and documentary heritage of Brazil. It is located in Rio de Janeiro, at Cinelândia square....
, being named for both positions by Brazilian president
President of Brazil
The president of Brazil is both the head of state and head of government of the Federative Republic of Brazil. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the Brazilian Armed Forces...
Floriano Peixoto
Floriano Peixoto
Floriano Vieira de Araújo Peixoto , April 30, 1839, Maceió, Brazil — July 29, 1895, Rio de Janeiro; born in Ipioca , was a Brazilian soldier and politician, a veteran of the War of the Triple Alliance, and the second President of Brazil.-Election and Succession as President:Floriano Peixoto...
. However, as a diehard florianista, he was eventually fired from his post by President Prudente de Morais
Prudente de Morais
Prudente José de Morais Barros was the third president of Brazil . His presidency lasted from November 15, 1894 until November 15, 1898...
, towards whom he was charged with disrespect in a speech he made at the burial of Floriano Peixoto, who had died untimely shortly after the end of his presidential term. He had already been personally slandered for his allegedly closet homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
— something which led him to challenge his former friend, the poet Olavo Bilac
Olavo Bilac
Olavo Brás Martins dos Guimarães Bilac was a Brazilian Parnassian poet, journalist and translator. Alongside Alberto de Oliveira and Raimundo Correia, he was a member of the "Parnassian Triad"...
, to a duel
Duel
A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two individuals, with matched weapons in accordance with agreed-upon rules.Duels in this form were chiefly practised in Early Modern Europe, with precedents in the medieval code of chivalry, and continued into the modern period especially among...
in 1892; he had also broken other friendships in the same resounding fashion. Eventually, he suffered a fatal breakdown: after being slandered for his Floriano speech in a piece by journalist Luís Murat entitled "A Madman in the Cemetery", feeling himself scorned everywhere, he killed himself on Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
, 1895.
Works
- Uma Tragédia no Amazonas (18801880 in literatureThe year 1880 in literature involved some significant new books.-New books:*Henry Adams - Democracy: An American Novel *Rhoda Broughton - Second Thoughts*Wilkie Collins - Jezebel's Daughter...
) - As Joias da Coroa (18821882 in literatureThe year 1882 in literature involved some significant new books.-New books:*F. Anstey - Vice Versa*Walter Besant - The Revolt of Man*Bankim Chatterjee - Anandmath*Richard Doddridge Blackmore -Christowell*Wilkie Collins - After Dark...
) - Canções Sem Metro (18831883 in literatureThe year 1883 in literature involved some significant new books.-New books:*Mary Elizabeth Braddon - Phantom Fortune*Rhoda Broughton - Belinda*Wilkie Collins - Heart and Science*Jonas Lie - Familien paa Gilje ...
) - O AteneuO AteneuO Ateneu is a novel written by Brazilian author Raul Pompéia in 1888, which it is considered one of the most prominent examples of Brazilian Realism and Naturalism. The book narrates, in the first person, the story of Sérgio, an eleven year old boy who is sent to a well-respected all-male boarding...
(18881888 in literatureThe year 1888 in literature involved some significant new books.-New books:*Grant Allen - The Devil's Die**The White Man's Foot*Edward Bellamy - Looking Backward*Rolf Boldrewood - Robbery Under Arms...
)