Lêdo Ivo (18 February 1924 – 23 December 2012) was a Brazilian poet, novelist, essayist and journalist. He was member 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 Tuesday, ...

, elected in 1986.

Biography

Lêdo Ivo was born in 1924 in

Maceió Maceió (), formerly 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 (hydrology), spring. Most maceiós flow to the sea, but some get trapped ...

, capital of

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

state in northeastern Brazil. He settled in 1940 in

Recife Recife ( , ) is the Federative units of Brazil, state capital of Pernambuco, Brazil, on the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of South America. It is the largest urban area within both the North Region, Brazil, North and the Northeast R ...

, where he completed his training. In 1943, he moved to

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

to enroll in law school, while also working for the literary supplements as a professional journalist. He married Leda Maria Sarmento Ivo de Medeiros (1923-2004), with whom he had three children. His first book was published in 1944, a collection of poems titled ''As imaginações''. The following year he published ''Ode e Elegia'', which was awarded the Olavo Bilac Prize of the Brazilian Academy of Letters and is a turning point in the history of Brazilian poetry. The death of

Mário de Andrade Mário Raul de Morais Andrade (; October 9, 1893 – February 25, 1945) was a Brazilian poet, novelist, musicologist, art historian and critic, and photographer. He wrote one of the first and most influential collections of modern Brazilian po ...

in 1945 led to a generational change in Brazilian poetry whose rule was "an invitation to transgression", with the triumph of purely poetical structures. His literary work would be enhanced in the following decades by books of poetry, novels, short stories and essays or reports. Ivo's first novel, ''As Alianças'', went through several editions and was awarded the Graça Aranha Foundation Prize in 1947. He continued with ''O Caminho sem Adventura'' (1948), ''O sobrinho do General'' (1964) and ''Ninho de cobras'' (published in English as ''Snake's Nest'') (1973), one of his biggest successes, an allegory of totalitarianism of the military dictatorship of

Getúlio Vargas Getúlio Dornelles Vargas (; ; 19 April 1882 – 24 August 1954) was a Brazilian lawyer and politician who served as the 14th and 17th president of Brazil, from 1930 to 1945 and from 1951 until his suicide in 1954. Due to his long and contr ...

. His last novel was ''A morte do Brasil ''(1984). In 1949 Ivo spoke at the Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo in a conference titled ''The Generation of 1945''; in the same year he received a degree in law, a profession he would never exercise, preferring to devote himself to journalism. In 1953 he visited several European countries for long periods. In 1963 he spent two months in universities in the USA, by invitation of the Government. In 1986 Ivo was elected to the Brazilian Academy of Letters. In 2009 he was awarded the Premio Casa de Las Américas. Ledo Ivo was also a translator. He translated into Portuguese works of authors like Albrecht Goes,

Jane Austen Jane Austen ( ; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for #List of works, her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment on the English landed gentry at the end of the 18th century ...

Maupassant Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (, ; ; 5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a 19th-century French author, celebrated as a master of the short story, as well as a representative of the Naturalism (literature), naturalist School of thought, sc ...

Rimbaud Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud (, ; ; 20 October 1854 – 10 November 1891) was a French poet known for his transgressive and surreal themes and for his influence on modern literature and arts, prefiguring surrealism. Born in Charleville, he s ...

and

Dostoyevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian and world literature, and many of his works are considered highly influenti ...

. He published two memoirs, ''Confissões de um Poeta'' (1979), which was awarded the prize of the Cultural Foundation of the Federal District, and ''O Aluno Relapso'' (1991).

Works

Poetry

*As imaginações. Rio de Janeiro: Pongetti, 1944.4 *Ode e elegia. Rio de Janeiro: Pongetti, 1945. *Acontecimento do soneto. Barcelona: O Livro Inconsútil, 1948. *Ode ao crepúsculo. Rio de Janeiro: Pongetti, 1948. *Cântico. Illustrations by Emeric Marcier. Rio de Janeiro: J. Olympio, 1949. *Linguagem: (1949-19041). Rio de Janeiro, J. Olympio, 1951. *Ode equatorial. With etchings by Anísio Medeiros. Niterói: Hipocampo, 1951. *Acontecimento do soneto. Introduction by Campos de Figueiredo. Rio de Janeiro: Orfeu, 1951. *Um brasileiro em Paris e O rei da Europa. Rio de Janeiro: J. Olympio, 1955. *Magias. Rio de Janeiro: Agir, 1960. *Uma lira dos vinte anos. Rio de Janeiro: Liv. São José, 1962. *Estação central. Rio de Janeiro: Tempo Brasileiro, 1964. *Rio, a cidade e os dias: crônicas e histórias. Rio de Janeiro: Tempo Brasileiro, 1965. *Finisterra. Rio de Janeiro: J. Olympio, 1972. *O sinal semafórico. Rio de Janeiro: J. Olympio, 1974. *O soldado raso. Recife: Edições Pirata, 1980. *A noite misteriosa. Rio de Janeiro: Record, 1982. *Calabar. Rio de Janeiro: Record, 1985. *Mar Oceano. Rio de Janeiro: Record, 1987. *Crepúsculo civil. Rio de Janeiro: Topbooks, 1990. *Curral de peixe. Rio de Janeiro: Topbooks, 1995. *Noturno romano. With etchings by João Athanasio. Teresópolis: Impressões do Brasil, 1997. *O rumor da noite. Rio de Janeiro: Nova Fronteira, 2000. *Plenilúnio. Rio de Janeiro: Topbooks, 2004. *Réquiem. Rio de Janeiro: A Contra Capa, 2008. *Poesia Completa (1940-2004). Rio de Janeiro: Topbooks, 2004. *Réquiem. With paintings by Gonçalo Ivo and design by Gianguido Bonfanti. Rio de Janeiro: Contra Capa, 2008. *Mormaço. With paintings by Steven Alexander. Rio de Janeiro: Contra Capa, 2013.

Novels

*As alianças (Premio Fundação Graça Aranha). Rio de Janeiro: Agir, 1947. *O caminho sem aventura. São Paulo: Instituto Progresso Editorial, 1948. *O sobrinho do general. Rio de Janeiro: Civilização Brasileira, 1964. *Ninho de cobras (V Premio Walmap). Rio de Janeiro: J. Olympio, 1973. *A morte do Brasil. Rio de Janeiro: Record, 1984.

Short stories

*Use a passagem subterrânea. São Paulo: Difusão Européia do Livro, 1961. *O flautim. Rio de Janeiro: Bloch, 1966. *10 ezcontos escolhidos. Brasilia: Horizonte, 1986. *Os melhores contos de Lêdo Ivo. São Paulo: Global, 1995. *Um domingo perdido. São Paulo: Global, 1998.

References

External links

Ledo Ivo recorded at the Library of Congress for the Hispanic Division’s audio literary archive on July 29, 1974
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ivo, Ledo 20th-century Brazilian poets Brazilian male poets 1924 births 2012 deaths People from Maceió 20th-century Brazilian male writers