Flávio José Arns (born 9 November 1950) is a federal senator of

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 ...

representing his home state of Paraná. He was previously vice-governor of Paraná from 2011 to 2015, and also served in the chamber of deputies from 1991 to 2003.

Personal life

Arns was born to Osvaldo Arns and Teresinha Mohr. Of

German descent Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The constitution of Germany, implemented in 1949 following the end of World War ...

, he is grandson of Gabriel Arns and Helene Steiner. Brought up in a religious

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

family, he is related to important Brazilian religious figures

Zilda Arns Zilda Arns Neumann (25 August 1934 – 12 January 2010) was a Brazilian pediatrician and aid worker. A sister of Cardinal Dom Paulo Evaristo Arns, the former Archbishop of São Paulo known for his efforts against the Brazilian military dic ...

and Paulo Evaristo Arns, being the nephew of the former and grand-cousin of the latter. He is married Odenise Teresinha Arns, with whom he had two children: Caroline Arns and Osvaldo Arns Neto. Arns graduated from

Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná The Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná (, PUCPR) is a private, not-for-profit Catholic university. The main campus is located in Curitiba, the capital city of the State of Paraná, Brazil. There are four additional campuses located in the ...

in 1972, and the following years graduated with a degree in law from

Federal University of Paraná The Federal University of Paraná (, UFPR) is a public university headquartered in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil. UFPR is considered to be one of the oldest universities in Brazil. UFPR ranks as 37th best university in Latin-America and it is among ...

. In 1980 he graduated with a PhD. in Linguistics with his thesis focusing on language and behavior from

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

in the United States.

Political career

Arns served as director of education for individuals with special needs from 1983 to 1990. He then elected to and served 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 ...

for three consecutive terms from 1991 to 2003. He then served as vice governor for Beto Richa in his home state of Paraná as well as holding various positions in the state government. In the

2018 Brazilian general election General elections were held in Brazil on 7 October 2018 to elect the president, National Congress of Brazil, National Congress and Governor (Brazil), state governors. As no candidate in the presidential election (and for the gubernatorial electi ...

Arns was one of two members from Paraná, the other being

Oriovisto Guimarães Oriovisto Guimarães (born August 12, 1945) is a Brazilian politician. He has represented Paraná (state), Paraná in the Brazilian Senate, Federal Senate since 2019 and he is a member of Podemos (Brazil), Podemos. He was president of Grupo Positi ...

, to contest elections in the national senate, where he was elected. Following him taking seat in the senate he was elected vice chair of the Commission on Education, Culture and Sport. Arns voted against the impeachment of then-president

Dilma Rousseff Dilma Vana Rousseff (; born 14 December 1947) is a Brazilian economist and politician who served as the 36th president of Brazil from 2011 until her impeachment and removal from office on 31 August 2016. She is the only woman to have held the ...

. A strong supporter of the rights of those with autism and other developmental disabilities, in September 2016 Arns was recognized by the senate of Paraná for his political activism. Arns has faced some controversy for allegedly hiring Rosângela Wolff, the wife of judge

Sergio Moro Sergio Fernando Moro (; born 1 August 1972) is a Brazilian jurist, former federal judge, college professor, and politician. He was elected as a member of the Federal Senate for Paraná in October 2022. In 2015, he gained national attention as ...

, as a legal adviser in 2015. Judges are prohibited to communicate with active politicians in Brazil, and Wolff denied that she ever formally worked for Arns. On 31 August 2020 Arns announced that he had left the

Sustainability Network The Sustainability Network (, REDE) is an Environmentalism, environmentalist List of political parties in Brazil, Brazilian political party founded in 2013 by Marina Silva, a Brazilian politician from Acre, Brazil, Acre. The party formed a strate ...

and joined the Podemos party in the Brazilian senate.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arns, Flavio 1950 births Living people Politicians from Curitiba Brazilian people of German descent Brazilian Roman Catholics Brazilian educators Linguists from Brazil Federal University of Paraná alumni Northwestern University alumni Podemos (Brazil) politicians Sustainability Network politicians Brazilian Social Democracy Party politicians Workers' Party (Brazil) politicians Members of the Federal Senate (Brazil) Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Brazil) from Paraná