Enéas Ferreira Carneiro (; November 5, 1938 – May 6, 2007) was a Brazilian polymath, cardiologist, physicist, mathematician, professor, writer, military serviceman and politician. He represented the state of

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

in the National Chamber of Deputies (the lower house of the National Congress) and ran for

presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...

three times. He was founder and leader of the

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

and conservative Party of the Reconstruction of the National Order (PRONA), which was usually seen as being

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

Early life

Enéas was born and raised in

Acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

, in Brazil's far west. He lost his father at the age of nine and had to work to support his brothers and his mother. In 1958 he left Acre to begin studies in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, graduating in physics and mathematics. In 1959 he became an auxiliary

anesthesiologist Anesthesiology, anaesthesiology or anaesthesia is the medical specialty concerned with the total perioperative medicine, perioperative care of patients before, during and after surgery. It encompasses anesthesia, intensive care medicine, critica ...

. In 1965 he received a medical degree from the Rio de Janeiro College of Medicine, with a specialty in

cardiology Cardiology () is the study of the heart. Cardiology is a branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the heart and the cardiovascular system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery di ...

. His academic pursuits, however, were not confined to medicine, and he has written articles on diverse subjects, including philosophy,

logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the study of deductively valid inferences or logical truths. It examines how conclusions follow from premises based on the structure o ...

and

robotics Robotics is the interdisciplinary study and practice of the design, construction, operation, and use of robots. Within mechanical engineering, robotics is the design and construction of the physical structures of robots, while in computer s ...

. In 1980, he received a medical degree from the Cancer Hospital of Rio de Janeiro.

Political career

In 1989 he established PRONA. In that same year he ran for the presidency in Brazil's first direct elections after the end of military rule. Under the electoral laws, every candidate was given a daily amount of free airtime to set out their agenda. As the amount of airtime was proportional to the candidate's party political size, PRONA only got roughly 15 seconds of airtime for each TV appearance. Nevertheless, he made the most of the opportunity. His exotic image – he was a small, bald man with a large beard and thick "coke-bottle"

glasses Glasses, also known as eyeglasses (American English), spectacles (Commonwealth English), or colloquially as specs, are vision eyewear with clear or tinted lenses mounted in a frame that holds them in front of a person's eyes, typically u ...

— drew attention, as did his inflamed speech. In what would become his trademark, he finished it with the catchphrase ''Meu nome é Enéas'' ("My name is Enéas") — perhaps a gesture of humility or informality, or perhaps a way to save valuable time. The previously unknown politician was placed 12th out of a field of 21 candidates. He returned in 1994, making use then of 1 minute and 17 seconds. Surprising political experts, he finished ahead of various established politicians, such as the then-governor of

(

Leonel Brizola Leonel de Moura Brizola (22 January 1922 – 21 June 2004) was a Brazilian politician. Launched into politics by Brazilian president Getúlio Vargas in the 1930–1950s, Brizola was the only politician to serve as elected governor of two Brazil ...

), the former governor of

( Orestes Quércia), and the then-governor of Santa Catarina ( Esperidião Amin), with more than 4.6 million votes. In 1998, Enéas got 35 seconds – less, in total airtime, than what he had in 1989 – to deliver a speech that was more nationalistic than ever. Its ideas, such as the construction of an

atomic bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear expl ...

nationalization Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with p ...

of Brazil's mineral resources, and increasing the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

budget, sparked controversy. According to him, with such apparatus Brazil could impose its interests in the UN and other international treatises. His project focused basically on education, believing that only a strong, interventionist and technical State would solve Brazil's problems. Although many may label him as an authoritarian, his political approach is similar to a social democracy like in Sweden and Finland for example, where the State is extremely important. In 2000 he ran for mayor of the city of

, with no success, but he still managed to gain votes for the election of his councilman candidate Havanir Nimtz. In 2002 he ran for a seat as a federal deputy, representing São Paulo, and secured the most-ever votes for that office. His party won enough votes, through the proportionality system, to elect five more deputies. Enéas also participated actively in elections for mayors and councilmen in 2004, helping to choose councilmen in some major cities, such as Rio and São Paulo, and mayors in small cities. In 2006 he was elected again as a federal deputy for São Paulo, this time with the third highest vote in the state.

Praise and criticism

Many saw Enéas as an exotic politician because of his direct criticism to Brazilians fraudulent politicians behavior. Enéas believed that by acting on TV what he called "the rage of the common citizen" would wake up Brazilian people against corrupt politicians.

Death

Enéas underwent

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

in a hospital for myeloid leukemia. When it became clear that his treatment was not resulting in improvements, he decided to return home, where he remained until his death. Enéas died on May 6, 2007, at approximately 2 pm, in the

Laranjeiras Laranjeiras (, ''orange trees'') is an upper-middle-class neighborhood located in the South Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Primarily residential, It is one of the city's oldest neighborhoods, having been founded in the 17th century, with the ...

neighborhood of southern Rio de Janeiro. His remains were cremated and his ashes scattered over the Bay of Guanabara. After his death, on May 8, 2007, Enéas was honored in a rally against abortion in

Brasília Brasília ( ; ) is the capital city, capital of Brazil and Federal District (Brazil), Federal District. Located in the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region, it was founded by President Juscelino ...

, on May 8, 2007. According to the Party of the Republic, the politician was one of the organizers of the event. In 2017, then-deputy and later President of Brazil

Jair Bolsonaro Jair Messias Bolsonaro (; born 21 March 1955) is a Brazilian politician and former military officer who served as the 38th president of Brazil from 2019 to 2023. He previously served as a member of Brazil's Chamber of Deputies (Brazil), Chamb ...

proposed a bill to include Enéas' name in the Book of National Heroes.

References

External links

Learn more about Enéas' life
in the

Chamber of Deputies of Brazil The Chamber of Deputies () is a federal legislative body and the lower house of the National Congress of Brazil. The chamber comprises 513 deputies, who are elected by proportional representation to serve four-year terms. The current presiden ...