Gustavo Corção Braga (17 December 1896 – 6 July 1978) was a Brazilian Roman Catholic writer.

Career overview

Corção was educated at the Polytechnic School of UFRJ, but left the institution in 1920 without obtaining his degree in

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

, specializing later in electronics. He was an active member of the

Brazilian Communist Party The Brazilian Communist Party ( pt-BR, Partido Comunista Brasileiro), originally the Communist Party of Brazil (), is a communist party in Brazil founded on 25 March 1922 which makes the disputed claim of being the oldest political party stil ...

(PCB) at this time. After meeting

Alceu Amoroso Lima Alceu Amoroso Lima (Petrópolis, December 11, 1893 – Rio de Janeiro, August 14, 1983) was a writer, journalist, activist from Brazil, and founder of the Brazilian Christian Democracy. He adopted the pseudonym ''Tristão de Ataíde'' in 1919. In ...

, however, he kept himself at a distance from communist groups and remained close to Catholic circles until his conversion, in 1939. Corção studied

Thomism Thomism is the philosophical and theological school that arose as a legacy of the work and thought of Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), the Dominican philosopher, theologian, and Doctor of the Church. In philosophy, Aquinas' disputed questions a ...

and

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

with

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monks and played an important role at Dom Vital Centre in Rio, founded by Jackson de Figueiredo. He participated in the "Catholic revival" movement in Brazil, which converted many intellectuals previously attracted to

Positivism Positivism is an empiricist philosophical theory that holds that all genuine knowledge is either true by definition or positive—meaning ''a posteriori'' facts derived by reason and logic from sensory experience.John J. Macionis, Linda M. G ...

. The writings of

G. K. Chesterton Gilbert Keith Chesterton (29 May 1874 – 14 June 1936) was an English writer, philosopher, Christian apologist, and literary and art critic. He has been referred to as the "prince of paradox". Of his writing style, ''Time'' observed: "Wh ...

had a strong effect on Corção. In 1946 he published an essay on Chesterton's ideas and even translated one of his books, ''The Barbarism of Berlin''. He was also strongly influenced by the work of the French Catholic writer

Jacques Maritain Jacques Maritain (; 18 November 1882 – 28 April 1973) was a French Catholic philosopher. Raised Protestant, he was agnostic before converting to Catholicism in 1906. An author of more than 60 books, he helped to revive Thomas Aquinas fo ...

, while still close to the

Action Française Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 f ...

. His only novel, , was awarded by

Unesco The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

and later translated into many languages. Corção worked for decades as a journalist, collaborating to several prestigious newspapers, such as ''Tribuna da Imprensa'', ''

Diário de Notícias ''Diário de Notícias'' () is a Portuguese daily newspaper published in Lisbon, Portugal. Established since 1864, the paper is considered a newspaper of record for Portugal. History and profile ''Diário de Notícias'' was first published in ...

'', '' Estado de S. Paulo'' and ''

O Globo ''O Globo'' (, ''The Globe'') is a Brazilian newspaper based in Rio de Janeiro. ''O Globo'' is the most prominent print publication in the Grupo Globo media conglomerate. Founded by journalist Irineu Marinho, owner of ''A Noite'', it was orig ...

''. In ''O Século do Nada'' (''The Century of Nothing''), he passionately defended the

Francoist Spain Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...

and

José Antonio Primo de Rivera José Antonio Primo de Rivera y Sáenz de Heredia, 1st Duke of Primo de Rivera, 3rd Marquess of Estella (24 April 1903 – 20 November 1936), often referred to simply as José Antonio, was a Spanish politician who founded the falangist Falange ...

. According to him, the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...

was a "terminal sin". In August 1969, he founded ''Permanência'', a split from Dom Vital Centre. The name of the magazine came from the French ''Permanences'' created by

Jean Ousset Jean Ousset (28 July 1914 – 20 April 1994) was a French ideologist of National Catholicism born in Porto, Portugal. He was an activist of the ''Action française'' monarchist movement in the 1930s, and personal secretary of its leader, Charles ...

, the founder of the ''Catholic City''.

Influence

Corção's influence among traditionalist Catholics persists to this day. In France, for instance, the Abbey of Sainte-Madeleine du Barroux has published two of his books, ''La Découverte de l'Autre'' and ''Le Siècle de l'Enfer''. French historian Olivier Companion also notes the publication of some of Corção's work in

Jean Madiran Jean Arfel (14 June 1920 – 31 July 2013), better known by his pen name Jean Madiran, was a French far-right nationalist and a traditionalist Catholic writer who was born in Libourne. He has also used the pen name Jean-Louis Lagor. Biography ...

's newspaper, ''Routes''. His work has been highly regarded by

Antonio Olinto 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 ...

Ariano Suassuna Ariano Vilar Suassuna (; 16 June 1927 – 23 July 2014) was a Brazilian playwright and author. He was the driving force behind the creation of the ''Movimento Armorial''. He founded the Student Theater at Federal University of Pernambuco. Fou ...

Gilberto Freyre Gilberto de Mello Freyre (March 15, 1900 – July 18, 1987) was a Brazilian sociologist, anthropologist, historian, writer, painter, journalist, congressman born in Recife, Pernambuco, Northeast Brazil. He is commonly associated with other m ...

Nelson Rodrigues Nelson Falcão Rodrigues (August 23, 1912 – December 21, 1980) was a Brazilian playwright, journalist and novelist. In 1943, he helped usher in a new era in Brazilian theater with his play ''Vestido de Noiva (The Wedding Dress)'', considered ...

and

Manuel Bandeira Manuel Carneiro de Sousa Bandeira Filho (April 19, 1886 – October 13, 1968) was a Brazilian poet, literary critic, and translator, who wrote over 20 books of poetry and prose. Life and career Bandeira was born in Recife, Pernambuco. In 190 ...

Trivia

* A street in Rio de Janeiro bears his name (Rua Gustavo Corção).

Notes

Works

* rans. into Spanish, Desclée: De Brouwer, 1950 ** . ** . * rans. into Spanish, Plantin, 1954 * . * rans. into Italian, Torino: SEI, 1960 ** . * rans. into Spanish, Buenos Aires: Oikos, 1982 * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . ** . * . * .

References

* . * . * .

External links

Works online

* * . * .

Other

* . * . * . * . * . {{DEFAULTSORT:Corcao, Gustavo Brazilian Roman Catholics Brazilian traditionalist Catholics Brazilian male writers Converts to Roman Catholicism Converts to Roman Catholicism from atheism or agnosticism Conservatism in Brazil Far-right politics in Brazil 1896 births 1978 deaths