Henrique de Souza Filho (5 February 1944 – 4 January 1988), commonly known as Henfil, was a Brazilian cartoonist, caricaturist, journalist and writer, born in
Ribeirão das Neves
Ribeirão das Neves ('' en, Snow's Creek'') is a Brazilian municipality located in the state of Minas Gerais. The city belongs to the mesoregion Metropolitana de Belo Horizonte and to the microregion of Belo Horizonte. Most residents commute to Be ...
, Minas Gerais.
Biography
He was a contributor to the satirical newspaper "O Pasquim", which began publication in response to press censorship in Brazil following the military crackdown of December 1968. In 1970 he published the comic book "Os Fradinhos" (The Friars), starring his most acclaimed characters. It was the first Brazilian comic book to be published in other countries. Henfil also worked in theater, film, television and literature, but political activism was his hallmark, creating fictional characters that made acerbic criticisms of the Brazilian political institutions of the time. A
haemophiliac
Haemophilia, or hemophilia (), is a mostly inherited genetic disorder that impairs the body's ability to make blood clots, a process needed to stop bleeding. This results in people bleeding for a longer time after an injury, easy bruising, ...
, Henfil contracted AIDS through a blood transfusion and died as a result of the disease in
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 ...
.
[ ]
Characters
His most famous characters where:
* ''Fradim Baixim'': (name translates roughly as "Friar Shorty") a short friar with a sadistic sense of humor. His gesture "Top! Top!" made him Henfil's most famous creation.
* ''Fradi Cumprido'': (translates literally as "Friar Accomplished", but it's likely a deliberate misspelling of the word "comprido", which means "Long" or "Tall") a skinny friar, partner and victim of Baixim
* ''Graúna'' – a
caatinga
Caatinga (, ) is a type of semi-arid tropical vegetation, and an ecoregion characterized by this vegetation in interior northeastern Brazil. The name "Caatinga" is a Tupi word meaning "white forest" or "white vegetation" (''caa'' = forest, v ...
bird and ever critic of the "wonderful south”
* ''Capitão Zeferino'': a northeaster "
cangaceiro”
* ''Bode Francisco Orelana'': intellectual and defender of the status quo.
See also
*
Herbert "Betinho" de Souza – Henfil's brother.
References
External links
*
Lambiek Comiclopedia article.
Brazilian cartoonists
Brazilian caricaturists
Brazilian comics artists
Brazilian humorists
Brazilian satirists
Brazilian journalists
1944 births
1988 deaths
AIDS-related deaths in Rio de Janeiro (state)
People from Ribeirão das Neves
20th-century journalists
Prêmio Angelo Agostini winners
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