Alceu Amoroso Lima (

Petrópolis Petrópolis (; ), also known as The Imperial City, is a municipality in the Southeast Region of Brazil. It is located in the state of Rio de Janeiro, northeast of the city of Rio de Janeiro. According to the 2010 National Brazilian Census, Petr ...

, December 11, 1893 –

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 ...

, August 14, 1983) was a writer, journalist, activist from

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 ...

, and founder of the Brazilian Christian Democracy. He adopted the pseudonym ''Tristão de Ataíde'' in 1919. In 1928 he converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and eventually became head of

Catholic Action Catholic Action is the name of groups of lay Catholics who advocate for increased Catholic influence on society. They were especially active in the nineteenth century in historically Catholic countries under anti-clerical regimes such as Spain, I ...

in Brazil. Although he initially had some sympathy for certain aims of

Brazilian integralism Brazilian Integralism ( pt, integralismo) was a political movement in Brazil, created in October 1932. Founded and led by Plínio Salgado, a literary figure who was somewhat famous for his participation in the 1922 Modern Art Week. The movement ...

he became a strong opponent of authoritarianism in general and

Fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...

in particular. That came in part through the influence of Jacques Maritain. He was a staunch advocate for press freedom during the period of military dictatorship.

Biography

Born into a middle-class family in

Rio Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

, Alceu Amoroso Lima was " atheist and Jacobin" studying at college Pedro II, obtaining a law degree in 1913. Influenced by positivism, he traveled to Paris, but the shock of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

led him to get away from it, under the influence of Jackson de Figueiredo, G. K. Chesterton and Jacques Maritain. After a dispute with the converted Jackson de Figueiredo, in favor of a "intransigent Catholicism" (with modernism), Lima converted to Catholicism in 1928, that event recounted in ''Adeus à disponibilidade e outros adeuses'' (1968). The same year he became leader of Dom Vital Center, founded by Figueiredo and broadcast anti-communist and anti-liberal anti-modernist ideas. He made his literary criticism under the pseudonym of Tristão de Ataíde, he was also manager of the company Cometa, inherited from his father. He married Maria Teresa de Faria, the daughter of the writer Alberto de Faria. He was secretary of the Catholic Electoral League, created by the Cardinal Archbishop of Rio Sebastião Leme da Silveira Cintra to act in the political sphere (without a party) with the approach of elections in 1933. Lima also chaired the National Junta of

, founded in 1935, until 1945, and founded the Catholic Institute of Advanced Studies in 1932 and the

Universidade Santa Úrsula University Santa Úrsula is a private university (Roman Catholic) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was founded in 1937 by Alceu Amoroso Lima. It was the first of Rio de Janeiro's higher education institutions to accept women. The main campus is lo ...

(private) in Rio in 1937. He went in 1935 to the Academia Brasileira de Letras, obtained in 1964 the Juca Pato Prize and Jabuti Literature Prize in 1979. In 1930 Amoroso Lima was close to

Brazilian Integralism Brazilian Integralism ( pt, integralismo) was a political movement in Brazil, created in October 1932. Founded and led by Plínio Salgado, a literary figure who was somewhat famous for his participation in the 1922 Modern Art Week. The movement ...

, the fascist movement of

Plínio Salgado Plínio Salgado (; January 22, 1895 – December 8, 1975) was a Brazilian politician, writer, journalist, and theologian. He founded and led Brazilian Integralist Action, a political party inspired by the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini. I ...

; he parted under the influence of Jacques Maritain, with whom he corresponded. He, then, made statements tinted with

Antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

. Alceu Lima was one of the founders of the Christian Democrat Organization of America (ODCA) in 1947, alongside, among others, the future Chilean President

Eduardo Frei Montalva Eduardo Nicanor Frei Montalva (; 16 January 1911 – 22 January 1982) was a Chilean political leader. In his long political career, he was Minister of Public Works, president of his Christian Democratic Party, senator, President of the ...

. One of the representatives of Brazil at the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...

, with the Archbishop

Hélder Câmara Hélder Pessoa Câmara (7 February 1909 – 27 August 1999) was a Brazilian Catholic archbishop. A self-identified socialism, socialist, he was the Archbishop of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Olinda e Recife, Olinda and Recife, serving from 196 ...

, he was one of the founders of the Brazilian Christian Democracy. From 1967 to 1972 he was a member of the

Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace The Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace (''Justitia et Pax'') was a pontifical council of the Roman Curia dedicated to "action-oriented studies" for the international promotion of justice, peace, and human rights from the perspective of the ...

. He was professor of

Sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...

at the Normal school of Rio, of

Political economy Political economy is the study of how economic systems (e.g. markets and national economies) and political systems (e.g. law, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied phenomena within the discipline are systems such as labour ...

at the Faculty of Law and Brazilian literature at the University of Brazil and the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, then rector of the University of the Federal District and president of the Center Dom Vital between 1928 and 1968. He was also a member of the Conselho Nacional de Educação. Lima lived in France, lectured on "Brazilian civilization" to the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

, and in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in the early 1950s. Under the Brazilian military government (1964–85), he strongly criticized censorship.

Works

* ''Estudos — Segunda série'' (1927) * ''Política'' (1932) * ''Idade, sexo e tempo'' (1938) * ''Elementos de ação católica'' (1938) * ''Mitos de nosso tempo'' (1943) * ''O problema do trabalho'' (1946) * ''Meditações sobre o mundo interior'' (1953) * ''O existencialismo e outros mitos de nosso tempo'' (1951) * ''O gigantismo econômico'' (1962) * ''O humanismo ameaçado'' (1965) * ''Os direitos do homem e o homem sem direitos'' (1975) * ''Revolução Suicida'' (1977) * ''Tudo é mistério'' (1983)

References

External links

* .
Alceu Amoroso Lima recorded at the Library of Congress for the Hispanic Division’s audio literary archive on Oct. 10, 1976
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lima, Alceu Amoroso Brazilian literary critics Brazilian essayists Brazilian journalists Brazilian Roman Catholics Converts to Roman Catholicism from atheism or agnosticism 1893 births 1983 deaths People from Petrópolis Maria Moors Cabot Prize winners Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro faculty 20th-century essayists 20th-century journalists