Euclides da Cunha (, January 20, 1866 – August 15, 1909) was a Brazilian journalist, sociologist and

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

. His most important work is '' Os Sertões'' (''Rebellion in the Backlands''), a non-fictional account of the military expeditions promoted by the Brazilian government against the rebellious village of

Canudos Canudos is a municipality in the northeast region of Bahia, Brazil. The original town, since flooded by the Cocorobó Dam, was the scene of violent clashes between peasants and republican police in the 1890s. The municipality contains part of th ...

, known as the War of Canudos. This book was a favorite of

Robert Lowell Robert Traill Spence Lowell IV (; March 1, 1917 – September 12, 1977) was an American poet. He was born into a Boston Brahmin family that could trace its origins back to the ''Mayflower''. His family, past and present, were important subjects i ...

, who ranked it above Tolstoy.

Jorge Luis Borges Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo (; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, as well as a key figure in Spanish-language and international literature. His best-known bo ...

also commented on it in his short story " Three Versions of Judas". The book was translated into English by Samuel Putnam and published by the

University of Chicago Press The University of Chicago Press is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including ''The Chicago Manual of Style'', ...

in 1944. It remains in print. He was heavily influenced by Naturalism and its Darwinian proponents. '' Os Sertões'' characterised the coast of Brazil as a chain of civilisations while the interior remained more primitive. He occupied the 7th chair of the

Brazilian Academy of Letters The Academia Brasileira de Letras (ABL) ( English: ''Brazilian Academy of Letters'') is a Brazilian literature, literary non-profit society established at the end of the 19th century. The first president, Machado de Assis, declared its found ...

from 1903 until his death in 1909. He served as inspiration for the character of ''The Journalist'' in

Mario Vargas Llosa Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, 1st Marquess of Vargas Llosa (born 28 March 1936), more commonly known as Mario Vargas Llosa (, ), is a Peruvian novelist, journalist, essayist and former politician, who also holds Spanish citizenship. Vargas Ll ...

's ''

The War of the End of the World ''The War of the End of the World'' ( es, La guerra del fin del mundo) is a 1981 novel written by Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa. It is a fictionalized account of the War of Canudos conflict in late 19th-century Brazil. Plot summary In the ...

''.

Timeline

Euclides da Cunha was born January 20, 1866 in Cantagalo,

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 ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, where he lived until he was three years old. His grandparents were of Portuguese origin. He attended in 1885 Escola Politécnica, and after he attended Escola Militar da Praia Vermelha, a military school in Rio, beginning in 1886. He was expelled from the military school in 1888, due to his participation in an act of protest during a visit of the Brazilian War Minister, , who was a member of the last Conservative cabinet of the

Brazilian Empire The Empire of Brazil was a 19th-century state that broadly comprised the territories which form modern Brazil and (until 1828) Uruguay. Its government was a representative parliamentary constitutional monarchy under the rule of Emperors Dom Pe ...

. He was readmitted to the Escola Militar in 1889. He was admitted to the Brazilian War School (''Escola de Guerra'') in 1891 . He was discharged from the Army in 1896 in order to dedicate himself to studying

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...

. In 1897 he accompanied the Army in the

Campanha de Canudos The War of Canudos (, , 1895–1898) was a War, conflict between the First Brazilian Republic and the residents of Canudos in the Northeast Region, Brazil, northeastern state of Bahia. It was waged in the aftermath of the Lei Áurea, abolition of ...

, against a rebellious group of peasants under the leadership of

Antonio Conselheiro Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular male ...

. Between 7 August and 1 October, he was in the

Sertão The ''sertão'' (, plural ''sertões'') is the "hinterland" or "backcountry". In Brazil, it refers both to one of the four sub-regions of the Northeast Region of Brazil (similar to the specific association of "outback" with Australia in English ...

("backland"), as war correspondent for the ''

O Estado de S. Paulo ''O Estado de S. Paulo'' (; ), also known as ''Estadão'' (; ), is a daily newspaper published in São Paulo, Brazil. It is the third largest newspaper in Brazil, and its format changed from broadsheet to berliner on October 17, 2021. It has t ...

'' newspaper. In 1903 he was elected to the ''

Academia Brasileira de Letras The Academia Brasileira de Letras (ABL) ( English: ''Brazilian Academy of Letters'') is a Brazilian literature, literary non-profit society established at the end of the 19th century. The first president, Machado de Assis, declared its found ...

'' (Brazilian Academy of Letters) and the

Instituto Histórico e Geográfico The Brazilian Historic and Geographic Institute ( pt, Instituto Histórico e Geográfico Brasileiro), IHGB, founded on 21 October 1838, is the oldest and traditional authority to promote research and preservation of historical and geographical, cu ...

, the Historical and Geographic Institute In 1909 he was admitted as chairman and professor of

Logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premises ...

at the Colégio Pedro II, a public secondary school in Rio. Euclides da Cunha married Ana Emília Ribeiro, daughter of major Sólon Ribeiro, in 1890. The couple had five children. Ana Emília had an affair with Dilermando de Assis, a young Army

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

. On August 15, 1909, finding about his wife's affair, da Cunha went to Assis' house to kill him. He shot Assis and his brother Dinorah, failing to kill either. Assis shot da Cunha when Euclides had already left his house, and the writer was killed. According to historian

Susanna Hecht Susanna B. Hecht is an American geographer, professor of Urban Planning at UCLA and professor of international history at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva. Life and work Her early work on the deforestation ...

's account, there was doubt whether Dilermando murdered a fleeing man who had run out of bullets, or whether Euclides still was a threat to Dilermando (which would make the murder self-defense.) The jury decided for the latter scenario and acquitted Dilermando. Da Cunha was 43 years old.

Works

*1902 '' Os Sertões'' (''Rebellion in the Backlands'': University of Chicago Press ) -- also Penguin Classics in a new translation, *1907 '' Contrastes e confrontos'', lit. Contrasts and Confrontations *1907 '' Peru versus Bolívia'' *1939 '' Canudos, diário de uma expedição'' – news articles published in the periodical O Estado de S. Paulo *1967 ''

Canudos e inéditos Canudos is a municipality in the northeast region of Bahia, Brazil. The original town, since flooded by the Cocorobó Dam, was the scene of violent clashes between peasants and republican police in the 1890s. The municipality contains part of th ...

'' – news articles published by the periodical O Estado de S. Paulo

References

External links

Euclides da Cunha site, Biography and works
(in Portuguese)
Casa Euclidiana, São José do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, Brazil
(in Portuguese)
Short biography in English
(down the article) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cunha, Euclides Da 1866 births 1909 deaths Deaths by firearm in Brazil Brazilian male writers Members of the Brazilian Academy of Letters Brazilian people of Portuguese descent

Timeline

Works

Further reading

References

External links