Prado da Silva Júnior, Caio (1907–1990)

Caio Prado da Silva Júnior (b. 11 February 1907; d. 23 November 1990), Brazilian writer and editor. Caio Prado da Silva Júnior, a pioneer in historical materialist interpretation in Brazil, was born in São Paulo. He was a founder of the Partido Democrático (1926) and received a law degree from the University of São Paulo (1928). He joined the Communist Party in 1931, and Marxism guided both his life and his work. He expressed his political views in his first book, Evolução política do Brasil (1933), a summary of Brazilian history, and in his masterpiece, Formação do Brasil contemporâneo (1942), he analyzed the colonial period, especially at the turn of the nineteenth century. The enlargement of the latter book resulted in História econômica do Brasil (1945), which, with Roberto Simonsen's História econômica do Brasil (1937) and Celso Furtado's Formação econômica do Brasil (1959), led to emphasis on economic factors in Brazilian history.

Prado Júnior also wrote books on economics, philosophy, and politics. He was editor of the Revista Brasiliense (1955–1964) and founder of the traditional publishing firms Gráfica Urupês and Editôra Brasiliense.

Prado Junior combined intense political activity with profound intellectual work for which he suffered political repression. He was imprisoned twice (1935–1937 and 1971) and went into exile in France for two years (1937–1939). He died in São Paulo, where his family continued to have an important cultural role.

See alsoBrazil: The Colonial Era, 1500–1808; Brazil, Political Parties: Brazilian Communist Party (PCB).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Luís Correia De Melo, Dicionário de autores paulistas (1954).

Francisco Iglésias, Caio Prado Júnior (1982).

Additional Bibliography

Rêgo, Rubem Murilo Leão. Sentimento do Brasil: Caio Prado Júnior, continuidades e mudanças no desenvolvimento da sociedade brasileira. Campinas, SP, Brazil: Editora da UNICAMP, 2000.

Ricupero, Bernardo. Caio Prado Jr. e a nacionalização do marxismo no Brasil. São Paulo: Departamento de Ciência Política da USP, FAPESP, Editora 34, 2000.

Santos, Raimundo. Caio Prado Júnior na cultura política brasileira. Rio de Janeiro: Mauad, FAPERJ, 2001.

                     Eliana Maria Rea Goldschmidt