Gustavo Corção Braga (17 December 1896 – 6 July 1978) was a Brazilian Roman Catholic writer.

Career overview

Corção was educated at the Polytechnic School of UFRJ, but left the institution in 1920 without obtaining his degree in

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

, specializing later in electronics. He was an active member of the

Brazilian Communist Party The Brazilian Communist Party (), originally the Communist Party of Brazil (), is a communist party in Brazil, founded on 25 March 1922. Arguably the oldest active political party in Brazil, it played an important role in the country's 20th- ...

(PCB) at this time. After meeting Alceu Amoroso Lima, however, he kept himself at a distance from communist groups and remained close to Catholic circles until his conversion, in 1939. Corção studied

Thomism Thomism is the philosophical and theological school which arose as a legacy of the work and thought of Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), the Dominican philosopher, theologian, and Doctor of the Church. In philosophy, Thomas's disputed ques ...

and

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

with

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

monks and played an important role at Dom Vital Centre in Rio de Janeiro, founded by Jackson de Figueiredo. He participated in the "Catholic revival" movement in Brazil, which converted many intellectuals previously attracted to

Positivism Positivism is a philosophical school that holds that all genuine knowledge is either true by definition or positivemeaning '' a posteriori'' facts derived by reason and logic from sensory experience.John J. Macionis, Linda M. Gerber, ''Soci ...

. The writings of

G. K. Chesterton Gilbert Keith Chesterton (29 May 1874 – 14 June 1936) was an English author, philosopher, Christian apologist, journalist and magazine editor, and literary and art critic. Chesterton created the fictional priest-detective Father Brow ...

had a strong effect on Corção. In 1946 he published an essay on Chesterton's ideas and even translated one of his books, ''The Barbarism of Berlin''. He was also strongly influenced by the work of the French Catholic writer

Jacques Maritain Jacques Maritain (; 18 November 1882 – 28 April 1973) was a French Catholic philosopher. Raised as a Protestant, he was agnostic before converting to Catholicism in 1906. An author of more than 60 books, he helped to revive Thomas Aqui ...

, while still close to the

Action Française ''Action Française'' (, AF; ) is a French far-right monarchist and nationalist political movement. The name was also given to a journal associated with the movement, '' L'Action Française'', sold by its own youth organization, the Camelot ...

. His only novel, , was awarded by

Unesco The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

and later translated into many languages. Corção worked for decades as a journalist, collaborating to several prestigious newspapers, such as ''Tribuna da Imprensa'', ''

Diário de Notícias () is a Portuguese weekly newspaper published in Lisbon, Portugal. Established since 1864, the paper is considered a newspaper of record for Portugal. History and profile ''Diário de Notícias'' was first published in Lisbon on 29 December 1 ...

'', '' Estado de S. Paulo'' and ''

O Globo ''O Globo'' (, ''The Globe'') is a Brazilian newspaper based in Rio de Janeiro. ''O Globo'' is the leading daily newspaper in the country and the most prominent print publication in the Grupo Globo media conglomerate. Founded by journalist Ir ...

''. In ''O Século do Nada'' (''The Century of Nothing''), he passionately defended the

Francoist Spain Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death i ...

and

José Antonio Primo de Rivera José Antonio Primo de Rivera y Sáenz de Heredia, 1st Duke of Primo de Rivera, 3rd Marquess of Estella GE (24 April 1903 – 20 November 1936), often referred to simply as José Antonio, was a Spanish fascist politician who founded the Falan ...

. According to him, the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

was a "terminal sin". In August 1969, he founded ''Permanência'', a split from Dom Vital Centre. The name of the magazine came from the French ''Permanences'' created by Jean Ousset, the founder of the ''Catholic City''.

Influence

Corção's influence among traditionalist Catholics persists to this day. In France, for instance, the Abbey of Sainte-Madeleine du Barroux has published two of his books, ''La Découverte de l'Autre'' and ''Le Siècle de l'Enfer''. French historian Olivier Compagnon also notes the publication of some of Corção's work in Jean Madiran's newspaper, ''Routes''. His work has been highly regarded by Antonio Olinto,

Ariano Suassuna Ariano Vilar Suassuna (; 16 June 1927 – 23 July 2014) was a Brazilian playwright and author. He was the driving force behind the creation of the ''Movimento Armorial''. He founded the Student Theater at Federal University of Pernambuco. Four ...

Gilberto Freyre Gilberto de Mello Freyre (March 15, 1900 – July 18, 1987) was a Brazilian sociologist, anthropologist, historian, writer, painter, journalist and congressman born in Recife. Considered one of the most important sociologists of the 20th cen ...

, Nelson Rodrigues and

Manuel Bandeira Manuel Carneiro de Sousa Bandeira Filho (April 19, 1886 – October 13, 1968) was a Brazilian poet, literary critic, and translator, who wrote over 20 books of poetry and prose. Life and career Bandeira was born in Recife, Pernambuco. In 1904 ...

Trivia

* A street in Rio de Janeiro bears his name (Rua Gustavo Corção).

Notes

Works

* rans. into Spanish, Desclée: De Brouwer, 1950 ** . ** . * rans. into Spanish, Plantin, 1954 * . * rans. into Italian, Torino: SEI, 1960 ** . * rans. into Spanish, Buenos Aires: Oikos, 1982 * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . ** . * . * .

References

* . * . * .

External links

Works online

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Other

* . * . * . * . * . {{DEFAULTSORT:Corcao, Gustavo Brazilian Roman Catholics Brazilian traditionalist Catholics Brazilian male writers Converts to Roman Catholicism Converts to Roman Catholicism from atheism or agnosticism Conservatism in Brazil Far-right politics in Brazil 1896 births 1978 deaths