Tobias Barreto de Meneses (June 7, 1839 – June 26, 1889) was a Brazilian poet, philosopher, jurist and literary critic. He is famous for creating the " Condorism" and revolutionizing Brazilian Romanticism and poetry. He is patron of the 38th chair of the

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

Life

Barreto was born in Vila de Campos do Rio Real (renamed "Tobias Barreto" in his honor in 1909), a town in the southern part of Sergipe. He learnt his first letters with Manuel Joaquim de Oliveira Campos, and he also studied

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

with

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

Domingos Quirino. Barreto was so dedicated to the course that, in the future, he would become a

professor in Itabaiana. In 1861 he left for Bahia in order to attend a

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...

; however, having soon realized that it was not his vocation, he quit. Between 1864 and 1865 he became a private tutor in many subjects. He also tried to become a Latin (and later Philosophy) teacher at the Ginásio Pernambucano, but was not successful at the institution. Barreto was an enthusiast of the

German culture The culture of Germany has been shaped by major intellectual and popular currents in Europe, both religious and secular. Historically, Germany has been called ''Das Land der Dichter und Denker'' (the country of poets and thinkers). German cult ...

, such an interest being induced by the reading of Ernst Haeckel and Ludwig Büchner. Following Haeckel, he was a noted early

Darwinian Darwinism is a theory of biological evolution developed by the English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) and others, stating that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations that ...

in Brazil. For this reason he established a

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is als ...

-newspaper, ''Der Deutsche Kämpfer'' (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

for ''The German Fighter''). It was short-lived and had little influence. Moving away to

Escada Escada SE is a luxury women's designer clothing company headquartered in Munich, Germany. The company is owned by Regent, L.P., an international private equity firm led by investor Michael Reinstein. The company was founded in 1978 by design ...

, he married a

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

's daughter. He spent ten years there before returning to Recife. He died there in 1889 at a friend's house.

Works

* ''Brasilien, wie es ist'' (German for ''Brazil as it is'' — 1876) * ''Ensaio de Pré-História da Literatura Alemã'' (1879) * ''Filosofia e Crítica'' (1879) * ''Estudos Alemães'' (1879) * ''Dias e Noites'' (1881) * ''Menores e Loucos'' (1884) * ''Discursos'' (1887) * ''Polêmicas'' (1901; posthumous)

References

External links

Another biography of Tobias Barreto

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barreto, Tobias 1839 births 1889 deaths Brazilian male poets Brazilian philosophers Brazilian writers in German Romantic poets People from Sergipe Patrons of the Brazilian Academy of Letters 19th-century Brazilian poets 19th-century Brazilian male writers bpy:টোবিয়াস বার্রেটো ro:Tobias Barreto