Graciliano Ramos de Oliveira () (October 27, 1892 – March 20, 1953) was a Brazilian

modernist Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...

writer, politician and journalist. He is known worldwide for his portrayal of the precarious situation of the poor inhabitants of the Brazilian ''

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 Englis ...

'' in his novel '' Vidas secas''. His characters are complex, nuanced, and tend to have pessimistic world views, from which Ramos deals with topics such as the lust for power (the main theme in ''São Bernardo''), misogyny (a key point in ''Angústia''), and infidelity. His protagonists are mostly lower-class men from northeastern Brazil, which are often aspiring writers (such as in ''Caetés''), or illiterate country workers, all of which usually have to deal with poverty and complex social relations. Like fellow writers

Jorge Amado Jorge Leal Amado de Faria (10 August 1912 – 6 August 2001) was a Brazilian writer of the modernist school. He remains the best known of modern Brazilian writers, with his work having been translated into some 49 languages and popularized in ...

and

Erico Verissimo Érico Lopes Verissimo (December 17, 1905 – November 28, 1975) was an important Brazilian writer, born in the State of Rio Grande do Sul. Biography Érico Verissimo was the son of Sebastião Verissimo da Fonseca and Abegahy Lopes Verissimo. H ...

, Ramos was part of Brazil's second generation of modernist writers, in what is known as "1930s modernism". A lifelong supporter of

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

ideas, he was affiliated with the original

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 ...

Life

Graciliano Ramos de Oliveira was born in the city of

Quebrangulo Quebrangulo (Brazilian Portuguese: Help:IPA/Portuguese, /kebɾɐ̃ˈgulu/) is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality located in the States of Brazil, Brazilian state of Alagoas. Its population was 11,248 (2020) and its area is 300 km². The ...

, in the Brazilian state of

Alagoas Alagoas (, ) is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil and is situated in the eastern part of the Northeast Region. It borders: Pernambuco (N and NW); Sergipe (S); Bahia (SW); and the Atlantic Ocean (E). Its capital is the city of Maceió. It ...

, on October 27, 1892, to Sebastião Ramos de Oliveira and Maria Amélia Ramos. Graciliano was the oldest of the couple's 16 children. He would spend most part of his childhood travelling through different cities of

Northeast Brazil The Northeast Region of Brazil ( pt, Região Nordeste do Brasil; ) is one of the five official and political regions of the country according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Of Brazil's twenty-six states, it comprises ni ...

. After finishing high school in

Maceió Maceió (), formerly sometimes Anglicised as Maceio, is the capital and the largest city of the coastal state of Alagoas, Brazil. The name "Maceió" is an Indigenous term for a spring. Most maceiós flow to the sea, but some get trapped and form l ...

, he became a collaborator of the newspaper ''Jornal de Alagoas'' in 1909, where he published a

sonnet A sonnet is a poetic form that originated in the poetry composed at the Court of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the Sicilian city of Palermo. The 13th-century poet and notary Giacomo da Lentini is credited with the sonnet's invention, ...

called "Céptico" under the pen name Almeida Cunha, and some other texts under many different pseudonyms. He also published texts in the magazine ''O Malho'', under the pen name Feliciano de Olivença, and founded a short-lived periodical named ''Echo Viçosense'' in 1906. In 1914 he moved to

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 ...

, but had to return to Alagoas in September 1915, in order to live with his father, who became a salesman in the city of

Palmeira dos Índios Palmeira dos Índios is a municipality located in the western of the Brazilian state of Alagoas. , it has a population of around 70,000. The city is situated in the interior of Alagoas. The Brazilian writer Graciliano Ramos was its mayor in 1927. ...

. Also in 1915, he married his first wife, Maria Augusta de Barros, having with her four children. Maria Augusta died in 1920, due to troubles during childbirth. In 1927, Ramos was elected mayor of

: he took office in 1928 and would abdicate his post in 1930. Mesmerized by the high literary quality of his prefecture reports, Augusto Frederico Schmidt would approach Ramos into publishing his first novel, '' Caetés'', that Ramos started to write circa 1925. He would finish ''Caetés'' in 1930, but did not publish it until 1933. In 1928, he married his second wife, Heloísa Leite de Medeiros, having with her four more children. From 1930 to 1936 he lived once again in Maceió. In 1934 he published the novel '' São Bernardo'', and in the following year, he was arrested due to alleged (but never confirmed) participation in the

Communist uprising of 1935 The Brazilian communist uprising of 1935 (Portuguese: ''Intentona Comunista'') was a military revolt in Brazil led by Luís Carlos Prestes and leftist low-rank military against Getúlio Vargas's government on behalf of the National Liberation Al ...

. (Graciliano wrote an account of his time in prison named '' Memórias do Cárcere'', published a few months after his death in 1953.) After being freed from prison, he publishes with the help of associates such as

José Lins do Rego José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

his most famous novel, ''

Angústia ''Angústia'' is a book by Brazilian author Graciliano Ramos published in 1936. Tells the life of Luís da Silva, a man very stunned and confused with his own life. One day, he meets Marina, his new neighbour, a beautiful girl with whom he falls ...

''. In 1938 he publishes '' Vidas Secas'' and moves definitely to Rio de Janeiro, where he became in 1945 a member of the

Communist Party of Brazil The Communist Party of Brazil ( pt-BR, Partido Comunista do Brasil, PCdoB) is a political party in Brazil. The PCdoB officially adheres to Marxist–Leninist theory. It has national reach and deep penetration in the trade union and student m ...

. In the subsequent years, he travelled alongside his wife to countries such as France, Portugal, the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. Also in 1945 he published an account of his childhood years, named '' Infância''. Beginning in 1952, Graciliano's health gradually began to decline. He was diagnosed with

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...

and, after an unsuccessful surgery, died on March 20, 1953. His wife Heloísa would die 46 years later, in Salvador,

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (sta ...

. Graciliano is survived by one daughter and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Religion

Graciliano described himself as an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

, although he enjoyed reading the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

Works

Novels

* '' Caetés'' ( 1933) * '' São Bernardo'' ( 1934) * ''

'' (''Anguish'') ( 1936) * '' Vidas Secas'' (''Barren Lives'') ( 1938) * '' Brandão Entre o Mar e o Amor'' (''Brandão Between the Sea and Love'') ( 1942 — written in partnership with

, Aníbal Machado and

Rachel de Queiroz Rachel de Queiroz (, November 17, 1910 – November 4, 2003) was a Brazilian author, translator and journalist. Biography Rachel de Queiroz was born on 17 November 1910 in Fortaleza, capital of the northeastern state of Ceará. During her ...

)

Children's literature

* '' A Terra dos Meninos Pelados'' (''The Naked Boys' Land'') (novel — 1939) * '' Histórias de Alexandre'' (''Alexandre's Stories'') (short story book —

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...

) * '' Alexandre e Outros Heróis'' (''Alexandre and Other Heroes'') (posthumous — 1962)

Short story books

* '' Histórias Incompletas'' (''Unfinished Stories'') ( 1946) * ''

Insônia ''Insônia'' is a 2012 Brazilian romantic comedy film directed by Beto Souza, based on the book of the same name by Marcelo Carneiro da Cunha. The film was shot in 2007 and was only completed in 2012, premiered at the Festival de Gramado The G ...

'' (''Insomnia'') (

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...

)

Memoirs

* '' Infância'' (

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which nuclear weapons have been used in combat. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. Januar ...

) * '' Memórias do Cárcere'' (''Memories from Incarceration'') (posthumous, unfinished — 1953) * '' Viagem'' (''Travel'') (posthumous —

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

) * '' Viventes das Alagoas'' (''Living People from Alagoas'') (posthumous — 1962)

Chronicles

* '' Linhas Tortas'' (''Squiggly Lines'') (posthumous — 1962)

Translations

* '' Up from Slavery'' by

Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to several presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American c ...

* '' The Plague'' by

Albert Camus Albert Camus ( , ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, and journalist. He was awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the second-youngest recipient in history. His work ...

Miscellaneous

* ''Garranchos'' (''Scribbles'') (posthumous —

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

; collection of previously unpublished texts of different genres by Ramos, compiled by Thiago Mio Salla)

Film adaptations

Ramos had four of his works adapted to cinema: * '' Vidas Secas'', a

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

film by

Nelson Pereira dos Santos Nelson Pereira dos Santos (22 October 1928 21 April 2018) was a Brazilian film director. He directed films such as '' Vidas Secas'' (Barren Lives), based on the book with the same name by Brazilian writer Graciliano Ramos. Biography Pereira d ...

. * '' S. Bernardo'', a

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

film by Leon Hirszman. * ''Insônia'', a

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

film composed by three shorts adapted from Ramos' eponymous book, directed by Emmanuel Cavalcanti, Luiz Paulino dos Santos, and Nelson Pereira dos Santos, which had previously adapted ''Vidas Secas''. * '' Memórias do Cárcere'', a 1984 film also by Nelson Pereira dos Santos.

Carlos Vereza Carlos Alberto Vereza de Almeida (born 4 March 1939) is a Brazilian actor. He was born in Rio de Janeiro. Selected filmography * '' O Bravo Guerreiro'' (1968) * ''Memoirs of Prison'' (1984) * ''O Rei do Gado'' (1996) * '' Corpo Dourado'' (1998) ...

portrayed Ramos in this film.

Public domain

The work of Graciliano Ramos should enter into

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

on January 1, 2024, after the 70th anniversary of the author's death, according to

Brazilian law The law of Brazil is based on statutes and, partly and more recently, a mechanism called ''súmulas vinculantes''. It derives mainly from the civil law systems of European countries, particularly Portugal, the Napoleonic Code and the Germanic l ...

. However, the family disputes this due to the fact that the author still has a living daughter and maintains that, according to the Civil Code of 1916, the work remains protected for as long as she lives after 2024. For this reason, they signed a contract with Editora Record that will last until January 2029. However, it is uncertain whether the copyright will continue to be protected and according to Sonia Jardim, President of Record Group, in 2024 "there may be two editions of ''Vidas Secas'' in the market".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ramos, Graciliano 1892 births 1953 deaths Brazilian atheists Brazilian communists Anti-revisionists Brazilian male novelists Brazilian Communist writers Brazilian male short story writers Brazilian children's writers Brazilian translators People from Alagoas Brazilian memoirists Deaths from lung cancer Deaths from cancer in Rio de Janeiro (state) Mayors of places in Brazil English–Portuguese translators French–Portuguese translators Portuguese-language writers 20th-century Brazilian novelists 20th-century translators 20th-century Brazilian short story writers 20th-century memoirists