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
Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...
regime of
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...
.
Initially a supporter of the
dictatorship
A dictatorship is an autocratic form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, who hold governmental powers with few to no Limited government, limitations. Politics in a dictatorship are controlled by a dictator, ...
led by
Getúlio Vargas, he was later persecuted and exiled in Portugal for promoting
an uprising against the government. After his return, he launched the
Popular Representation Party, and was elected to represent
Paraná in the
Chamber of Deputies
The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures.
Description
Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...
in 1958, being re-elected in 1962, this time to represent
São Paulo
São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...
. He was also a candidate in the
1955 presidential election, securing 8.28% of the votes. After the
1964 ''coup d'état'', which led to the extinction of political parties, he joined the
National Renewal Alliance, obtaining two terms in the Chamber of Deputies. He retired from politics in 1974, just a year before his death.
Early life
Born in the small conservative town of
São Bento do Sapucaí in the
São Paulo
São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...
state, Plínio Salgado was the son of Colonel Francisco das Chagas Salgado, a local political leader, and Ana Francisca Rennó Cortez, a teacher. A very active child at school, he had special interest for
mathematics
Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...
and
geometry
Geometry (; ) is a branch of mathematics concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. Geometry is, along with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. A mathematician w ...
. After the loss of his father, at the age of 16, which is said to have made him a bitter young man, his interests shifted towards
psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...
and
philosophy
Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
.
At the age of 20, Salgado founded and directed the weekly newspaper ''Correio de São Bento''.
[Plínio Salgado biography]
at UOL Educação. In 1918, he began his political life by taking part in the foundation of a party called ''Partido Municipalista''.
This party congregated town leaders from municipalities in the
Paraíba Valley
The Paraíba Valley () is a landform that encompasses the regions: Paraíba Valley Metropolitan Region and Northern Coast, in the state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo and Sul-Fluminense Region, in the state of Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Jane ...
region, and advocated municipal autonomy.
Also in that year, Salgado married Maria Amélia Pereira, and on July 6, 1919, his only daughter Maria Amélia Salgado was born. Fifteen days after giving birth to the couple's daughter, Salgado's wife, Maria Amélia died. Filled with sorrow, Plínio left his original study of
materialist
Materialism is a form of philosophical monism according to which matter is the fundamental substance in nature, and all things, including mental states and consciousness, are results of material interactions. According to philosophical materia ...
philosophers, and found comfort in the
Roman Catholic theology
Catholic theology is the understanding of Catholic doctrine or teachings, and results from the studies of theologians. It is based on canonical scripture, and sacred tradition, as interpreted authoritatively by the magisterium of the Catholic ...
, and began to study the works of Brazilian Catholic thinkers, such as Raimundo Farias Brito and Jackson Figueiredo.
The death of his wife had a great impact on the course of Salgado's life. He would only marry again 17 years later, to Carmela Patti.
Through his articles in ''Correio de São Bento'', Salgado became known by fellow journalists in
São Paulo
São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...
, and in 1920 was invited to work there in ''Correio Paulistano'', the official newspaper of the
Republican Party of São Paulo, where he became a friend of poet
Menotti del Picchia.
He was a prominent participant in the
Modern Art Week in 1922, leading the "Nationalists", who wanted no foreign influences and sought a "purely Brazilian" form of art, against the "Anthropophagics", who synthesized a new art from foreign influences.
He published his first novel, ''The Stranger'' in 1926.
After that, alongside
Cassiano Ricardo, del Picchia and Cândido Mota Filho, he launched the ''Green-Yellow movement'', a
nationalistic group inside
Modernist movement.
The following year, also alongside del Picchia and Ricardo, Salgado launched the ''
Anta movement'', which exalted the
indigenous peoples
There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...
, particularly the
Tupi, as the true carriers of the Brazilian identity.
That same year, he published his book ''Literature and Politics'', in which he defended nationalistic ideas with a strong anti-
liberal and pro-
latifundia
A ''latifundium'' (Latin: ''latus'', "spacious", and ''fundus'', "farm", "estate") was originally the term used by ancient Romans for great landed estates specialising in agriculture destined for sale: grain, olive oil, or wine. They were charac ...
stance, inspired by
Alberto Torres Alberto Torres may refer to:
* Alberto Torres (politician) (1865–1917), Brazilian politician and social thinker
* Alberto Torres (athlete) (1934–1999), Dominican Republic sprinter
* Alberto Torres (wrestler) (1934–1971), American profe ...
and Oliveira Viana.
His shift to
far right-wing politics led Ricardo to launch the ''Flag movement'', a
social-democratic
Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, socia ...
breakaway from the ''Green-Yellow'' and ''Anta'' movements.
Integralism
In 1930, Salgado supported the presidential candidacy of
Júlio Prestes against
Getúlio Vargas.
At that time, during a trip to
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
, he became impressed with
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...
's
Fascist movement in
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
.
After his return to Brazil, on October 4, 1930, a day after the beginning of the
1930 Revolution which deposed President
Washington Luís, Salgado wrote two articles in ''Correio Paulistano'' defending Luís's administration.
Nevertheless, with the victory of the revolutionaries, he began to support the Vargas regime.
In the newspaper ''A Razão'', founded by Alfredo Egidio de Souza Aranha, Salgado developed an intense campaign against the
constitutionalization of Brazil.
As such, he drew the ire of anti-dictatorship activists, who burned down the newspaper's office just before the outbreak of the
Constitutionalist Revolution
The Constitutionalist Revolution of 1932 (sometimes also referred to as Paulista War or Brazilian Civil War) is the name given to the uprising of the population of the Brazilian state of São Paulo against the Brazilian Revolution of 1930 wh ...
.
At the height of the Vargas dictatorship, Salgado created the Society for Political Studies, which gathered together intellectuals sympathetic to Fascism.
Months later, he released the ''October Manifesto'', which provided the guidelines of a new political party, the
Brazilian Integralist Action.
Salgado adapted virtually all
Fascist symbols
Fascist symbolism is the use of certain images and symbols which are designed to represent aspects of fascism. These include national symbols of historical importance, goals, and political policies. The best-known are the fasces, which was the or ...
and forms of organization, such as a
paramilitary
A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934.
Overview
Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...
organization
An organization or organisation (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), see spelling differences) is an legal entity, entity—such as ...
with
green
Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...
-shirted
uniform
A uniform is a variety of costume worn by members of an organization while usually participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are most often worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency serv ...
ed ranks,
highly regimented street demonstrations, and aggressive
rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is one of the three ancient arts of discourse ( trivium) along with grammar and logic/ dialectic. As an academic discipline within the humanities, rhetoric aims to study the techniques that speakers or w ...
, although he publicly rejected
racism
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...
. The movement was directly financed, in part, by the
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
embassy
A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a Sovereign state, state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase ...
. The
Roman salute was accompanied by the screaming of the
Tupi word ''Anauê'', which means "you are my brother," while the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
letter
sigma
Sigma ( ; uppercase Σ, lowercase σ, lowercase in word-final position ς; ) is the eighteenth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 200. In general mathematics, uppercase Σ is used as an operator ...
(Σ) served as the movement's official symbol.
Even though Salgado himself was never an
anti-Semite
Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
, many of the party members adopted anti-semitic views.
Integralist Action drew its support from lower
middle class
The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. C ...
Italian immigrants, a large part of the
Portuguese community, lower middle class Brazilians, and military
officers, especially in the
Navy
A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...
. As the party grew, Vargas turned to Integralism as his only mobilized base of support on the
right wing
Right-wing politics is the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position b ...
, which was elated by his Fascist-style crackdown against the Brazilian
left
Left may refer to:
Music
* ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006
* ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016
* ''Left'' (Helmet album), 2023
* "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996
Direction
* Left (direction), the relativ ...
. In 1934, Salgado's movement targeted the
Communist Party, then under the leadership of
Luiz Carlos Prestes, as an underground party, mobilizing a conservative support base to engage in street brawls and urban
terrorism
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...
.

On 1937, Salgado launched his presidential candidacy for the general elections scheduled to take place in January 1938.
Aware of Vargas' intention to cancel the election and remain in power, he supported his
Estado Novo coup, hoping to make Integralism the doctrinal basis of the new regime,
as Vargas had promised him the office of the Minister of Education.
[Plínio Salgado biography]
at Fundação Getúlio Vargas' Centre for Research and Documentation on the Contemporary History of Brazil. The President, however, banned the Integralist party, treating it the same way he had treated other political parties after transforming Brazil into a
one-party state
A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system or single-party system is a governance structure in which only a single political party controls the ruling system. In a one-party state, all opposition parties are either outlawed or en ...
.
In 1938, Integralist militants tried twice, in the months of March and May, to promote uprisings against Vargas.
Despite denying involvement in the events,
Salgado was arrested after the May uprising and was imprisoned in the 17th-century Santa Cruz Fortress in
Niterói
Niterói () is a List of municipalities in Rio de Janeiro, municipality in the state of Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro, in the Southeast Region, Brazil, southeast region of Brazil. It lies across Guanabara Bay, facing the city of Rio de ...
,
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 ...
. About a month later, he was sent to a six-year exile in
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
.
During that period, he persistently sought to rehabilitate himself with the Brazilian regime, praising it in several manifestos, including its decision to declare war against
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
and Italy.
Later career
Salgado returned to Brazil in 1945, with the end of the
Estado Novo regime, and then founded the
Party of Popular Representation, reformulating the integralist doctrine.
Still driven by the ambition of becoming president, Salgado ran for presidency under the banner of his new party in 1955 but finished last, obtaining just 8% of the votes (around 714,000 votes).
Then he supported the inauguration of President-elect
Juscelino Kubitschek
Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira (; 12 September 1902 – 22 August 1976), also known by his initials JK, was a Brazilian politician who served as the 21st president of Brazil from 1956 to 1961. Kubitschek's government plan, dubbed "50 years i ...
, challenged by the
National Democratic Union, and was named to head the National Institute for Immigration and Colonization.
Salgado was elected to represent
Paraná in the
Chamber of Deputies
The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures.
Description
Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...
in 1958.
He would be re-elected in 1962, this time to represent the
São Paulo
São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...
state.
In 1964, he was one of the speakers at the March of Family with God for Freedom rally in
São Paulo
São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...
against President
João Goulart
João Belchior Marques Goulart (; 1 March 1919 – 6 December 1976), commonly known as Jango, was a Brazilian politician who served as the president of Brazil from 1961 until a military coup d'état deposed him in 1964. He was considered the ...
.
Salgado supported the
1964 ''coup d'état'' which overthrew Goulart and, with the introduction of the
two-party system
A two-party system is a political party system in which two major political parties consistently dominate the political landscape. At any point in time, one of the two parties typically holds a majority in the legislature and is usually referr ...
, he joined the
National Renewal Alliance Party
The National Renewal Alliance ( Portuguese: ''Aliança Renovadora Nacional'', ARENA) was a far-right political party that existed in Brazil between 1966 and 1979. It was the official party of the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil from 196 ...
, obtaining two terms as a
São Paulo
São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...
deputy.
Salgado died in São Paulo on 9 December 1975, aged 80. He is buried at
Morumbi Cemetery.
Bibliography
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salgado, Plinio
1895 births
1975 deaths
Brazilian Roman Catholics
Republican Party of São Paulo politicians
Brazilian Integralist Action politicians
Party of Popular Representation politicians
National Renewal Alliance politicians
Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Brazil) from Paraná
Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Brazil) from São Paulo
Political history of Brazil
Brazilian anti-communists
Brazilian nationalists
Brazilian newspaper founders
Brazilian newspaper publishers (people)
Brazilian fascists
Fascism in Brazil
Brazilian prisoners and detainees
Christian fascists
Catholicism and far-right politics
Far-right politics in Brazil
Candidates for President of Brazil
Prisoners and detainees of Brazil