''Barsa'' is a
Brazilian encyclopedia
An encyclopedia is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge, either general or special, in a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into article (publishing), articles or entries that are arranged Alp ...
, first published in 1964.
It was later translated into
Spanish and sold across much of
Latin America
Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...
. It is widely known in
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
,
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
,
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
,
Venezuela
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
and
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
. It has
printed
Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and Printmaking, images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabon ...
versions in
Portuguese and
Spanish with nine volumes each and 2,842 pages. Barsa also has a
multimedia
Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms, such as Text (literary theory), writing, Sound, audio, images, animations, or video, into a single presentation. T ...
version.
Conceived in 1959, by Dorita Barrett, daughter of an American
Encyclopedia Britannica
An encyclopedia is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge, either general or special, in a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into article (publishing), articles or entries that are arranged Alp ...
executive, Barsa was the first Brazilian encyclopedia developed by a Brazilian editorial board formed, among other people, by the encyclopedist and translator
Antonio Houaiss, the writer
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 ...
, the architect
Oscar Niemeyer
Oscar Ribeiro de Almeida Niemeyer Soares Filho (15 December 1907 – 5 December 2012), known as Oscar Niemeyer (), was a Brazilian architect considered to be one of the key figures in the development of modern architecture. Niemeyer was b ...
, and the journalist and writer
Antônio Callado as the chief editor of the first edition.
The name Barsa is a combination of the surnames of the couple Dorita Barrett (Bar) and her husband, the then Brazilian diplomat, Alfredo de Almeida Sá (Sa). Until then, the Brazilian market could only find encyclopedias in English, German or French. Dorita, living in Brazil, refused the idea of promoting a translation into Portuguese of the original Encyclopedia Britannica. Barsa's first edition was launched in March 1964. The initial batch, of 45 thousand copies, sold out in 8 months.
Barsa encyclopedia operations were bought by
Editorial Planeta in 2000.
References
External links
''Barsa Brasil'' - Portuguese
''Barsa Hispanica'' - Spanish
Latin American encyclopedias
Portuguese-language encyclopedias
Spanish-language literature
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