Barroso, Gustavo Dodt (1888–1959)

Gustavo Dodt Barroso (b. 29 December 1888; d. 3 December 1959), Brazilian writer, journalist, and politician. Barroso was a pioneer of the Brazilian folklore movement known as Northeastern Regionalism. Under the pen name João do Norte he wrote Terra de sol (1912), in which he praised the backlands peasantry for hard work, devotion to family, religious zeal, and closeness to nature. In Heróes e bandidos: Os cangaceiros de Nordeste (1917), he adopted the view that backlands bandits such as Antonio Silvino were predisposed to crime because of their race, lack of education, and the "savagery" of their environment. In the 1930s he became a supporter and one of the most influential propagandists of integralismo, the Brazilian variant of fascism.

Born in Fortaleza, Ceará, Barroso studied in Ceará, attended the Law School of Fortaleza from 1907 to 1909, and graduated in 1911 from the Law School of Rio de Janeiro. In 1914 he was appointed secretary of justice and interior for the state of Ceará and later directed Diário Oficial. A prolific writer, he published 128 books, including folklore, short stories, history, biography, criticism, plays, poetry, essays, a dictionary, memoirs, translations, and children's readers. He founded and directed the National Historic Museum, edited the Rio magazines Fon-Fon and Selecta, and served on the 1919 Brazilian delegation to the Versailles Peace Congress. In March 1923 he was elected a member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters. Other writings include O integralismo em marcha (1933) and O que o integralista deve saber (1935).

See alsoLiterature: Brazil .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Raimundo De Menezes, Dicionário literário brasileiro, ilustrado (1969).

Ralph Della Cava, Miracle at Joaseiro (1970).

Additional Bibliography

Gonçalves, Cláudio do Carmo. Ficções do patrimônio: Raízes de memória em Gustavo Barroso e Mário de Andrdade. Rio de Janeiro: Editora Agora da Ilha, 2002.

Maio, Marcos Chor. Nem Rotschild nem Trotsky: O pensamento anti-semita de Gustavo Barroso. Rio de Janeiro: Imago Editora, 1992.

                                        Teresa Meade