Marshal Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used for elevated o ...

Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon (5 May 1865 – 19 January 1958) was a Brazilian military officer most famous for his telegraph commission and exploration of

Mato Grosso Mato Grosso ( – lit. "Thick Bush") is one of the states of Brazil, the third largest by area, located in the Central-West region. The state has 1.66% of the Brazilian population and is responsible for 1.9% of the Brazilian GDP. Neighboring ...

and the Western

Amazon Basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries of Bolivi ...

, as well as his lifelong support for

indigenous Brazilians Indigenous peoples in Brazil ( pt, povos indígenas no Brasil) or Indigenous Brazilians ( pt, indígenas brasileiros, links=no) once comprised an estimated 2000 tribes and nations inhabiting what is now the country of Brazil, before European con ...

. He was the first director of Brazil's Indian Protection Service or SPI (later

FUNAI is a Japanese consumer electronics company headquartered in Daitō, Osaka. Apart from producing its own branded electronic products, it is also an OEM providing assembled televisions and video players/recorders to major corporations such as S ...

) and supported the creation of the

Xingu National Park The Xingu Indigenous Park (, pronounced ) is an indigenous territory of Brazil, first created in 1961 as a national park in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. Its official purposes are to protect the environment and the several tribes of Xingu in ...

. The Brazilian state of Rondônia is named after him.

Biography

Early life

Cândido Mariano da Silva was born on 5 May 1865 in Mimoso, a small village in the state of

. His father, Cândido Mariano da Silva Sr., was of

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

, and Guaná (an

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

group) ancestry, and died of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

in 1864, prior to Rondon's birth. His mother, Claudina Freitas Evangelista, was descended from the

Terena The Trans-European Research and Education Networking Association (TERENA, ) was a not-for-profit association of European national research and education networks (NRENs) incorporated in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The association was originally f ...

and

Bororo The Bororo are indigenous people of Brazil, living in the state of Mato Grosso. They also extended into Bolivia and the Brazilian state of Goiás. The Western Bororo live around the Jauru and Cabaçal rivers. The Eastern Bororo ( Orarimogodoge ...

indigenous peoples. She died two years after giving birth to Rondon. He was raised by his grandparents until their death, and then by his uncle, Manuel Rodrigues da Silva Rondon, from whom he took the name Rondon. After finishing high school at the age of 16, he taught elementary school for two years, and then joined the Brazilian army. He enrolled in the 3rd Regiment of Horse Artillery in 1881. Among other studies, he studied Mathematics and Physical and Natural Sciences of the Superior School of War. On joining the military, he entered officer's school and graduated in 1888 as a second lieutenant. He was also involved with the Republican coup that overthrew Pedro II, the last

Emperor of Brazil The monarchs of Brazil (Portuguese: ''monarcas do Brasil'') were the imperial heads of state and hereditary rulers of Brazil from the House of Braganza that reigned from the creation of the Brazilian monarchy in 1815 as a constituent kingdom of ...

As an army engineer

The republican government was worried about the western region of Brazil, very isolated from the great centers and in border regions. In 1890, he was commissioned as an army engineer with the Telegraphic commission, and helped build the first

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

line across the state of

. This telegraph line was finally finished in 1895, and afterwards, Rondon started construction on a road that led from

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

(then capital of the republic) to

Cuiabá Cuiabá () is the capital city of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. It is located near the geographical centre of South America. Also, it forms the metropolitan area of Mato Grosso, along with the neighbouring town of Várzea Grande. The city ...

, the capital of Mato Grosso. Until this roadway was complete, the only way between these two cities was by river transport. Also during this time, he married his wife, Francisca (Chiquinha) Xavier. Together, they had 7 children. From 1900 to 1906, Rondon was in charge of laying telegraph line from Brazil to

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

and

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

. During this time he opened up new territory, and was in contact with the warlike

of western Brazil. He was so successful in pacifying the Bororo, that he completed the telegraph line with their help. Throughout his life, Rondon laid over 4,000 miles of telegraph line through the jungles of Brazil. Marshall Rondon was honored with the title "Patron of the Communications Corps of the Brazilian Army", by Decree No. 51,960, of 26 April 1963.

Later life

After the Roosevelt-Rondon Scientific Expedition of 1914, Rondon worked until 1919 mapping the state of Mato Grosso. During this time he discovered some more rivers, and made contact with several indigenous tribes. In 1919, he became chief of the Brazilian Corps of Engineers, and the head of the Telegraphic Commission. In 1924 and 1925, he led army forces against a rebellion in the state of São Paulo. From 1927 to 1930, Rondon was put in charge of surveying all of the borders between Brazil and its neighbors. In 1930, he was interrupted by the

Revolution of 1930 The Revolution of 1930 () was an armed insurrection across Brazil that ended the Old Republic. The revolution replaced incumbent President Washington Luís with defeated presidential candidate and revolutionary leader Getúlio Vargas, conclud ...

, and he resigned from his position as head of SPI. During 1934–1938, he was in charge of a Diplomatic Mission, to mediate a dispute between Colombia and Peru over the town of Leticia. In 1939, he resumed his directorship of SPI, and expanded the service to new territories of Brazil. In the 1950s he supported the Villas Boas brothers' campaign, which faced strong opposition from the government and the ranchers of Mato Grosso and led to the establishment of the first Brazilian National Park for indigenous people along the

Xingu River The Xingu River ( ; pt, Rio Xingu, ; Mẽbêngôkre: ''Byti'', ) is a river in north Brazil. It is a southeast tributary of the Amazon River and one of the largest clearwater rivers in the Amazon basin, accounting for about 5% of its water. ...

in 1961. On 5 May 1955, the date of his 90th birthday, he was awarded the title of Marshal of the Brazilian Army, granted by the National Congress. In 1957, he was nominated for the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiolog ...

by the Explorers Club of New York. He died in 1958 in

at the age of 92.

Telegraph Commission

Cândido Rondon headed up a large-scale military operation to expand telegraph lines into the Brazilian Amazon, this group has also been called “ The Rondon Commission.” Rondon was, by this time, a devout follower of positivist beliefs and he believed his purpose was to unite all peoples of Brazil through his work in the commission. He had an unrelenting belief that progress should be made as quickly as possible and that indigenous peoples needed to be incorporated into society as quickly as possible to achieve this. Rondon showed concern as to how these indigenous groups were incorporated into modern society and he made it his mission to “guide” them to a more “civilized” life in what he viewed as a peaceful manner. However, some critics believe that Rondon's concern about indigenous groups and unification was fraudulent. These critics posit that this mission was mainly a military operation with a state focus on seizing and defining borders for defense purposes along with creating new opportunities for colonization and economic expansion. They believe this undermines the view that Rondon was a hero of unification and pacification towards previously uncontacted or independent indigenous tribes. The Rondon Commission was successful in its goal to open up the Amazon to economic development. Many new settlements appeared along the telegraph lines. New settlers desired a piece of this land for farming and ranching, but one side effect was the displacement of indigenous tribes like the Bororo.

Explorations

As a result of Rondon's competence in constructing telegraph lines, he was put in charge of extending the telegraph line from Mato Grosso to the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

. In the course of constructing the line, he charted the Juruena river (an important tributary of the

Tapajós The Tapajós ( pt, Rio Tapajós ) is a river in Brazil. It runs through the Amazon Rainforest and is a major tributary of the Amazon River. When combined with the Juruena River, the Tapajós is approximately long. It is one of the largest clearw ...

river in northern Mato Grosso) and, in addition, he made peaceful contact with the Nambikwara tribe, which had until then killed all Westerners they had come in contact with. He also (in 1911) visited the ruins of the eighteenth century Real Forte Príncipe da Beira, the greatest historical relic of Rondônia, which had been abandoned in 1889, and was promoted as

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

of the Corps of Military Engineers, responsible for building the

telegraph line to Santo Antonio do Madeira, the first to reach the Amazon region, which was called the "Rondon Commission". His works developed from 1907 to 1915. At the same time, the ''

Madeira-Mamoré Railroad The Madeira-Mamoré Railroad is an abandoned railroad built in the Brazilian state of Rondônia between 1907 and 1912. The railroad links the cities of Porto Velho and Guajará-Mirim. It became known as the "Devil's Railroad" because thousands o ...

'' was being built, which together with the Rondon telegraphic exploration and integration helped to occupy the region of the present state of Rondônia. In May 1909, Rondon went on his longest expedition. He set out from the settlement of

Tapirapuã Tapirapuã is a village in the municipality of Barra do Bugres in Mato Grosso, Brazil. It is in the mountainous Serra do Tapirapuã region and next to Sepotuba River. History In the early 20th century, Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon establis ...

in northern Mato Grosso heading northwest to meet up with the

Madeira river The Madeira River ( pt, Rio Madeira, link=no ) is a major waterway in South America. It is estimated to be in length, while the Madeira-Mamoré is estimated near or in length depending on the measuring party and their methods. The Madeira is ...

, which is a major tributary of the

Amazon River The Amazon River (, ; es, Río Amazonas, pt, Rio Amazonas) in South America is the largest river by discharge volume of water in the world, and the disputed longest river system in the world in comparison to the Nile. The headwaters of t ...

. By August, the party had eaten all of its supplies, and had to subsist on what they could hunt and gather from the forest. By the time they reached the

Ji-Paraná River The Ji-Paraná River (Machado River), sometimes spelled Jiparaná, is a river in Rondônia state in western Brazil. It is a tributary of the Madeira River in the Amazon Basin. For much of its length it runs roughly parallel with the northeastern ...

, they had no supplies. During their expedition they discovered a large river between the Juruena, and Ji-Paraná river, which Rondon named the

River of Doubt The Roosevelt River (Rio Roosevelt, sometimes Rio Teodoro) is a Brazilian river, a tributary of the Aripuanã River about in length. Course The Roosevelt River begins in the state of Rondônia and flows north through tropical rainforest. It is ...

. To reach the Madeira, they built canoes, and reached the Madeira on Christmas Day, 1909. When Rondon reached Rio de Janeiro, he was hailed as a hero, because it was believed that he and the expedition had died in the jungle. After the expedition, he became the first director of the Brazilian Government's Indian Protection Agency, or the SPI. In September 1913, Rondon was struck by a

poisoned arrow Arrow poisons are used to poison arrow heads or darts for the purposes of hunting and warfare. They have been used by indigenous peoples worldwide and are still in use in areas of South America, Africa and Asia. Notable examples are the poisons se ...

from the

Nambikwara The Nambikwara (also called Nambikuára) is an indigenous people of Brazil, living in the Amazon. Currently about 1,200 Nambikwara live in indigenous territories in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso along the Guaporé and Juruena rivers. Thei ...

Indians. In 1914, with the Rondon Commission, he built 372 km of lines and five more telegraph stations: ''Pimenta Bueno'', ''President Hermes'', ''Presidente Pena'' (later Vila de Rondônia and present Ji-Paraná), ''Jaru'' and ''Ariquemes'', in the area of the present state of Rondônia. On January 1, 1915, he completed his mission with the inauguration of the telegraph station in Santo Antônio do Madeira. The

52nd meridian west The meridian 52° west of Prime Meridian, Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Greenland, the Atlantic Ocean, South America, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole. The 52nd me ...

is also a geographical reference for the history of communications in Brazil. Rondon was the second human being to receive in his honor a meridian in his name. He fulfilled missions by opening roads, clearing lands, launching telegraph lines, mapping the land, and establishing cordial relations with the Indians. He maintained contact with several indigenous peoples.

Expedition with Roosevelt

In January 1914, Rondon left with

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

on the Roosevelt-Rondon Scientific Expedition, whose aims were to explore the River of Doubt. The expedition left the Tapiripuã, and reached the River of Doubt on 27 February 1914. They did not reach the mouth of the river until late April, after the expedition had suffered greatly. During the expedition, the river was renamed the Rio Roosevelt. The Adventure down the River of Doubt was the most difficult of Roosevelt's life. All the men except Rondon suffered from ailments and constant maladies.

Positivism/Comtism

From 1898 onward Rondon was an orthodox member of the ''Igreja Positivista do Brasil'' (Positivist Church of Brazil), which is a

Religion of Humanity Religion of Humanity (from French ''Religion de l'Humanité'' or '' église positiviste'') is a secular religion created by Auguste Comte (1798–1857), the founder of positivist philosophy. Adherents of this religion have built chapels of Huma ...

based in the thought of

Auguste Comte Isidore Marie Auguste François Xavier Comte (; 19 January 1798 – 5 September 1857) was a French philosopher and writer who formulated the doctrine of positivism. He is often regarded as the first philosopher of science in the modern sense ...

. The creed he embraced from it emphasized naturalism, science, and altruism rather than any supernatural forces. Positivism follows the goal of preventing social unrest by convincing the lower classes to accept the domination of the upper classes in exchange for things such as material benefits, guidance, and general improvement. Comte postulated that there are three stages of social evolution that humankind passes through, and placed special emphasis on scientific thought, industrialization, modernization, and general reform. These characteristics in particular helped it spread to Brazil following the

Paraguayan War The Paraguayan War, also known as the War of the Triple Alliance, was a South American war that lasted from 1864 to 1870. It was fought between Paraguay and the Triple Alliance of Argentina, the Empire of Brazil, and Uruguay. It was the deadlies ...

(1865–1870), when many Brazilians questioned the foundations of their society. Rondon first encountered positivism in 1885 as a student at the Military Academy in Rio de Janeiro, where it was taught as a form of spreading republicanism. He converted and became part of a growing group of Positivist officers and cadets at the academy. Although Brazilian enthusiasm for positivism was already on the decline by 1891, Rondon became a passionate lifelong member of the Orthodox Positivist Church, believing that Brazil, and the world with it, would eventually accept positivism because it was so rational. Positivism ultimately shaped Rondon's outlook on life, his ideas about interracial relations, and his plans for national development. He once told his men that he wanted to create a “political utopia,” and believed that his telegraph line aided in the evolution of humanity due to the large number of tribes he came in first contact with during the project. Unfortunately, Rondon's positivism ultimately led to fights with officials in the more powerful Catholic Church, limiting the influence and impact of his work in the long term.

The Indian Protection Service (SPI)

Rondon was invited to be the founding leader of the Serviço de Proteção ao Índio (SPI), the Indian Protection Service, by the Brazilian Minister of Agriculture Rodolfo Miranda in 1910. On accepting the position, Rondon explained to Miranda the importance of Positivism in his policies with the organization. He believed that, rather than allow Christian missionaries to forcibly assimilate the indigenous peoples, the best method would be to gradually and nonviolently lead them by example into the more civilized world. Rondon and other Positivists argued for the protection of indigenous peoples and the defense of their lands, saying that rather than being racially inferior, they were simply at an earlier stage of Positivist evolution. Rondon led the organization until the

Brazilian Revolution of 1930 The Revolution of 1930 () was an armed insurrection across Brazil that ended the Old Republic. The revolution replaced incumbent President Washington Luís with defeated presidential candidate and revolutionary leader Getúlio Vargas, concludi ...

, leaving many of his initial plans to be only in theory. The goal of SPI was to protect the well-being of natives, and Rondon created its motto: “die if need be, never kill.” Reports published as late as 1960 declared that the SPI had “entirely reached its objectives without betraying” this slogan, even claiming that despite “dozens” of SPI team members being murdered by poisoned arrows, they did not kill a single indigenous person. Instead, they supposedly operated using pacification techniques that Rondon developed while the head of the Mato Grosso-Amazon Strategic Communications and Telegraph Commission, utilizing a “flirting” technique to allow native tribes to choose to engage with them before officially taking over. However, beginning shortly before Rondon's death in 1958, severe corruption and abuses of indigenous peoples were revealed to have been committed by those working with SPI. The organization was disbanded in disgrace in 1967, and a similar organization, Fundação Nacional do Índio (FUNAI), replaced it later that year.

Homages

Marshal Cândido Rondon is considered one of the foremost Brazilian heroes and patriots and has thus been honoured by population and government in many ways. He is the "Father of Brazilian Telecommunications" and 5 May is the National Day of Telecommunications, established in his honour. Had the glory of having his name written in letters of gold in massive Book of the Geographical Society of New York. *State of Rondônia
Fundação Cândido Rondon
*

Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul The Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul ( pt, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, UFMS), is a public university located in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul in Brazil. It has, in addition to the main campus in Campo Grande (the Stat ...

*Municipality of Rondon,

Pará Pará is a state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas and Roraima. To the northwest are the borders of Guyana ...

br>
*Municipality of Marechal Cândido Rondon, Paraná (state), Paranábr>
*Municipality of Marechal Rondon,

*Municipality of

Rondonópolis Rondonópolis (formerly known as Rio Vermelho (Red River)) is the third-largest municipality in Mato Grosso, Brazil. It is located around from Cuiabá, the capital of the state. The city is named for military officer and explorer Cândido Rondon ...

Faculdade Marechal Rondon
São Manuel,

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

*Faculdades Integradas Cândido Rondo

, Mato Grosso. *Project Rondo

*Museu Rondon,

Federal University of Mato Grosso The Federal University of Mato Grosso ( pt, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, UFMT) is a public university in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. Responsible for serving the entire state, its main campus is in the capital city of Cuiabá. Small ...

*Marechal Rondon Library,

Museu do Índio O Museu do Índio (English: The Museum of the Indian) is a cultural and scientific agency of the Fundação Nacional do Índio (English: National Foundation of the Indian) or FUNAI. It was created by Darcy Ribeiro, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Br ...

Fundação Nacional do Índio Fundação Nacional do Índio (, ''National Indian Foundation'') or FUNAI is a Brazilian governmental protection agency for Amerindian interests and their culture. Original founding as Indian Protection Service In 1910, the Indian Protectio ...

Botafogo Botafogo (local/standard alternative Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: ) is a beachfront neighborhood ('' bairro'') in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a mostly upper middle class and small commerce community, and is located between the hills of ...

*Bosque Municipal Marechal Rondon,

Londrina Londrina (, literally "Little London") is a city located in the north of the state of Paraná, South Region, Brazil, and is away from the state capital, Curitiba. It is the second largest city in the state and fourth largest in the southern regi ...

, Paraná *

Marechal Rondon International Airport Marechal Rondon International Airport is the airport serving Cuiabá, Brazil, located in the adjoining municipality of Várzea Grande. It is named after Marshall Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon (1865–1958), a Brazilian explorer. It is oper ...

Várzea Grande, Mato Grosso Várzea Grande is a municipality in the state of Mato Grosso in the Central-West Region of Brazil. History The "City of the Great Lowlands" arose from a donation of land grants given to the Guaná people in 1832, considered civilized by the Po ...

* Marechal Rondon Highway,

State of São Paulo State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Rondon's marmoset Rondon's marmoset (''Mico rondoni''), also known as the Rondônia marmoset, is a small species of monkey from the family Callitrichidae found in the south-western Amazon Rainforest, Amazon in Brazil. It is Endemism, endemic to the state of Rondô ...

(''Mico rondoni''), a small monkey. * Rondon's tuco-tuco (''Ctenomys rondoni''), a rodent. * Rondon's gymnophthalmid (''Rondonops''), a lizard genera.Colli GR, Hoogmoed MS, Cannatella DC, Cassimiro J, Gomes JO, Ghellere JM, Nunes PMS, Pellegrino KCM, Salerno P, De Souza SM, and Rodrigues MT. 2015. Description and phylogenetic relationships of a new genus and two new species of lizards from Brazilian Amazonia, with nomenclatural comments on the taxonomy of Gymnophthalmidae (Reptilia: Squamata). Zootaxa 4000:401-427. In addition, thousands of streets, schools and other urban features and organizations have received Rondon's name.

Notes and references

Bibliography

* Michel Braudeau, « Le télégraphe positiviste de Cândido Rondon », in ''Le rêve amazonien'',

éditions Gallimard Éditions Gallimard (; formerly Éditions de la Nouvelle Revue Française (1911–1919) and Librairie Gallimard (1919–1961) is one of the leading French book publishers. In 2003 it and its subsidiaries published 1,418 titles. Founded by Gast ...

, 2004 ().

External links

Candido Rondon: A friend of the Indians
is a good site to learn more about Rondon's involvement with Funai.

has a timeline and good information about Rondon's life and work. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rondon, Candido 1865 births 1958 deaths People from Mato Grosso Brazilian people of Portuguese descent Brazilian people of indigenous peoples descent Brazilian explorers Marshals of Brazil Comtism Positivists Explorers of Amazonia Bororo people Indigenous politics in Brazil