Alfredo Bosi (26 August 1936 – 7 April 2021) was a Brazilian

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

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' ...

, and professor. He was 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 ...

(''Brazilian Academy of Letters''), occupying Chair number 12. One of his most famous books is ''História Concisa da Literatura Brasileira'' (''Brief History of Brazilian Literature''), widely used in Brazilian universities in literature courses. Bosi also wrote several studies about

Italian literature Italian literature is written in the Italian language, particularly within Italy. It may also refer to literature written by Italians or in other languages spoken in Italy, often languages that are closely related to modern Italian, including ...

and about major Brazilian writers, as well as essays on the field of

hermeneutics Hermeneutics () is the theory and methodology of interpretation, especially the interpretation of biblical texts, wisdom literature, and philosophical texts. As necessary, hermeneutics may include the art of understanding and communication. ...

Life

Alfredo Bosi was born 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 ...

on 26 August 1936. He was married to

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...

Ecléa Bosi, with whom he had two children. His daughter,

Viviana Bosi Viviana is a female given name, and may refer to: * ''Viviana'' (film), a 1916 American film * ''Viviana'' (telenovela), a 1978 Mexican telenovela * Saint Bibiana, or Viviana, 4th-century Roman martyr * Viviana (given name) See also * * Bibiana ...

, is also an accomplished literary critic. Bosi majored in

Literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

University of São Paulo The Universidade de São Paulo (, USP) is a public research university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, and the largest public university in Brazil. The university was founded on 25 January 1934, regrouping already existing schools in ...

in 1960 and later studied 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 ...

. Following his studies, he took the chair of

at the same university, an office he held until 1970, when he became professor of Brazilian literature. Bosi occupied the Brazilian Chair of Sociological Sciences

Sérgio Buarque de Holanda Sérgio Buarque de Holanda (July 11, 1902 – April 24, 1982) was a Brazilian historian, writer, journalist and sociologist. His greatest achievement was Raízes do Brasil ( English ''Roots of Brazil''), a landmark of Brazilian sociology, in ...

at the

Maison des Sciences de l'Homme Maison des Sciences de l'Homme also known as MSH a is a research foundation based in Paris, France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territorie ...

and was deputy-director of

Institute for Advanced Researches of the University of São Paulo An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

from 1987 to 1997, when he became director of the organization. Amongst other prizes, he was awarded the

Jabuti Prize The red-footed tortoise (''Chelonoidis carbonarius'') is a species of tortoise from northern South America. These medium-sized tortoises generally average as adults, but can reach over . They have dark-colored (nearly black), “loaf”-shaped ...

for best

human sciences Human science (or human sciences in the plural) studies the philosophical, biological, social, justice, and cultural aspects of human life. Human science aims to expand the understanding of the human world through a broad interdisciplinary appro ...

work in 1993 for ''Dialética da Colonização'' (''Dialectics of Colonization'') and in 2000, for best essay, awarded to his work ''Machado de Assis. O Enigma do Olhar'' (''Machado de Assis. The Puzzle of the Eye''). Bosi died on 7 April 2021, in

, of COVID-19. He was 84.

Selected bibliography

*''Itinerario della Narrativa Pirandelliana'' (1964) (Doctoral Thesis) *''O Pré-Modernismo'' (1966) (''Brazilian Pre-Modernism'') *''O Ser e o Tempo da Poesia'' (1977) (''The Time and the Being of Poetry'') *''Céu, Inferno. Ensaios de Crítica Literária e Ideológica'' (1988) (''Heaven, Hell. Essays of Literary and Ideological Criticism'') *''Dialética da Colonização'' (1992) (''Dialectics of Colonization'') *''Machado de Assis. O Enigma do Olhar'' (1999) (''Machado de Assis. The Puzzle of the Eye'') *''Literatura e Resistência'' (2002) (''Literature and Resistance'')

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bosi, Alfredo 1936 births 2021 deaths Brazilian literary historians Brazilian literary critics Members of the Brazilian Academy of Letters Recipients of the Order of Cultural Merit (Brazil) People from São Paulo University of São Paulo alumni Hermeneutists Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in São Paulo (state)