Adonias Aguiar Filho (November 27, 1915 – August 2, 1990) was a novelist, essayist, journalist, and literary critic from Bahia, Brazil, and a member of the

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

Life

Filho was born in Itajuípe, Brazil, the son of Adonias Aguiar and Rachel Bastos de Aguiar. In 1936, 2 years after finishing high school in

Salvador Salvador, meaning "salvation" (or "saviour") in Catalan, Spanish, and Portuguese may refer to: * Salvador (name) Arts, entertainment, and media Music *Salvador (band), a Christian band that plays both English and Spanish music ** ''Salvador'' ( ...

, he moved from the south of

Bahia Bahia () 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 (state), São Paulo, Mina ...

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 ...

, Brazil’s capital at the time, where he continued his career in

Journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

, previously started in Salvador. He worked for well known newspapers such as ''

Correio da Manhã Correio da Manhã may refer to one of the following newspapers: * ''Correio da Manhã'' (Brazil) * ''Correio da Manhã'' (Portugal) {{disambig ...

'' and ''Revista do Brazil''. He was also a

literary critic A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature' ...

for ''Cadernos da "Hora Presente"'', from

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 ...

in 1937, ''A Manhã'', from 1944 to 1945, along with ''Jornal de Letras'' (from 1955 to 1960) and ''Diário de Notícias'' (from 1958 to 1960). In São Paulo, he also collaborated with ''

O Estado de S. Paulo ''O Estado de S. Paulo'' (; ), also known as ''Estadão'' (; ), is a daily newspaper published in State of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. It is the third largest newspaper in Brazil, and its format changed from broadsheet to Berliner (format), ...

'' and ''Folha da Manhã''. Between 1946 and 1950, he ran the book publishing company "A Noite". He was the director of the Serviço Nacional de Teatro, in 1954, and director of the Biblioteca Nacional from 1961 to 1971. At the same time, he worked for the at the Ministério da Justiça. In 1966, he was elected vice-president of the (ABI) and in the following year, he became a member of the Conselho Federal de Cultura (CFC). He was re-elected in 1969, 1971 and 1973. He was the president of the ABI in 1972 and president of the CFC from 1977 to 1990, when he died. As a writer, Adonias Aguiar Filho searched for inspiration for his fiction in the "zona cacaueira" (

Cocoa Cocoa may refer to: Chocolate * Chocolate * ''Theobroma cacao'', the cocoa tree * Cocoa bean, seed of ''Theobroma cacao'' * Chocolate liquor, or cocoa liquor, pure, liquid chocolate extracted from the cocoa bean, including both cocoa butter and ...

plantations) close to

Ilhéus Ilhéus () is a major city located in the southern coastal region of Bahia, Brazil, 211 km south of Salvador, Brazil, Salvador, the state's capital. The city was founded in 1534 as Vila de São Jorge dos Ilhéus and is known as one of the mos ...

, back to his origins in the South of

, where he was born and raised. This ambiance is well displayed in his first novel, ''Os servos da morte'' (The Servants of Death), published in 1946. In the form of the

romance novel A romance or romantic novel is a genre fiction novel that primarily focuses on the relationship and Romance (love), romantic love between two people, typically with an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending. Authors who have contributed ...

, reality served as an opportunity to recreate a world charged with symbolism, in the situations as well as in the characters, bearing witness to a tragic sense of life and worldview. He was part of the , a literary society devoted to spirituality and Catholic tradition. The use of original stylistic features, reflective of the internal violence of his characters gave him a fundamental place in the literary generation that created the 3rd phase of Brazilian

Modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

in 1945, which was based on a return to more normal disciplines of writing. They were concerned about writing with less formal research, while broadening their regional meanings to apply universally. Their work still has a significant influence on contemporary Brazilian literature and fiction. He was honored with the 21st chair at the Brazilian Academy of Letters (

) at the age of 53, May 23, 1969. The title was handed to him by his fellow writer from Bahia,

Jorge Amado Jorge Amado ( 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 film, includi ...

. His literary work has been translated into English, German, Spanish, French and Slovak. He died in Ilhéus, shortly after his wife did.

Academia Brasileira de Letras

Fifth holder of the 21st Chair, originally held by

Joaquim Serra Joaquim is the Portuguese and Catalan version of Joachim and may refer to: * Agnes Joaquim (born Ashkhen Hovakimian, 1854–1899), Singaporean Armenian who bred Singapore's first hybridised orchid hybrid, Vanda 'Miss Joaquim' * Alberto Joaquim ...

; elected January 14, 1965. Preceded by ; Followed by

Dias Gomes Alfredo de Freitas Dias Gomes () (19 October 1922 – 18 May 1999) was a Brazilian playwright. He was born on October 19, 1922, in Salvador, Bahia. He started writing plays at age 15 and later wrote soap operas. He wrote the first ever col ...

Bibliography

* Renascimento do homem - essay (1937) * Tasso da Silveira e o tema da poesia eterna - essay (1940) * ''Memórias de Lázaro'' - novel (1952) * Jornal de um escritor (1954) * Modernos ficcionistas brasileiros - essay (1958) * Cornélio Pena - critique (1960) * ''Corpo vivo'' - novel (1962) * História da Bahia - essay (1963) * O bloqueio cultural - essay (1964) * ''O forte'' - novel (1965) * ''Léguas da promissão'' -

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most novelettes and short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) ...

(1968) * O romance brasileiro de crítica - critique (1969) * Luanda Beira Bahia - novel (1971) * O romance brasileiro de 30 - critique (1973) * Uma nota de cem – children’s literature (1973) * ''As velhas'' - novel (1975) * ''Fora da pista'' - children’s literature (1978) * ''O Largo da Palma'' -

(1981) * Auto de Ilhéus – theater (1981) * ''Noites sem madrugada'' - novel (1983). * ''O Homem de branco'' - novel (1987).

Awards

Adonias Filho was awarded: * Prêmio Paula Brito de crítica literária (Guanabara, 1968), for the book "Léguas da promissão", * Golfinho de Ouro de Literatura (1968), * Prêmio PEN Clube do Brasil, * Prêmio da Fundação Educacional do Paraná (FUNDEPAR) * Prêmio do Instituto Nacional do Livro (1968–1969) * Prêmio Brasília de Literatura (1973), from Fundação Cultural do Distrito Federal. *

Premio Nacional de Literatura A National Prize for Literature () is a kind of award offered by various countries. Examples include: * National Prize for Literature (Argentina) * National Literary Awards, Burma * National Prize for Literature (Chile) * Premio Nacional de Lit ...

(1975), from Instituto Nacional do Livro, in the category published work (1974–1975), with the

"As velhas", and * Title of Doctor

Honoris Causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

by the

Universidade Federal da Bahia The Federal University of Bahia (, UFBA) is a public university located mainly in the city of Salvador. It is the largest university in the state of Bahia. Students can study there without paying tuition fees, as it is a public university. To j ...

, in 1983.

External links

Adonias na Academia Brasileira

e-biografias

Encyclopædia Britannica

Adonius Aguiar Filho recorded at the Library of Congress for the Hispanic Division’s audio literary archive on December 13, 1977
{{DEFAULTSORT:Filho, Adonias People from Bahia 1915 births 1990 deaths Brazilian male dramatists and playwrights Brazilian male novelists Brazilian literary critics 20th-century Brazilian novelists 20th-century Brazilian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Brazilian essayists 20th-century Brazilian male writers Brazilian Roman Catholics