Saul Alves Martins (November 1, 1917,

Januária (''The Queen of the Beautiful Waters'') , motto = , image_skyline = , imagesize = , image_caption = , image_flag = File:Bandeira de Januária.jpg , image_seal = File:Bras ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

– December 10, 2009 Belo Horizonte) was a Brazilian anthropologist and folklorist, professor of Federal University of Minas Gerais (

UFMG The Federal University of Minas Gerais ( pt, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, UFMG) is a federalIn the Brazilian Higher Education context, ''Federal'' does not mean ''collegiate'' (even though most Federal Universities in Brazil enjoy a sim ...

). Formed in

Social Sciences Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of society, societies and the Social relation, relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the o ...

, master and doctor in the area and for years devoted himself to the study and teaching of

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...

, with an emphasis on

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, r ...

and the tradition of

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literall ...

Thesis

He defended his dissertation with the biography of the bandit Antonio Dó, and his doctoral thesis entitled "Contribution to the scientific study of the craft," both published in book form.

Contributions to anthropology

As a writer attentive to the nuances of

popular culture Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in ...

and to the forms of "traditional” sociability set inside of the country-side of

, especially the "rodas de São Gonçalo", Martins left a legacy for the description and systematization forms of cultural expression of Brazil's country-side. Defending a systematic study of these forms of expression, and deeply influenced by the

positivism Positivism is an empiricist philosophical theory that holds that all genuine knowledge is either true by definition or positive—meaning ''a posteriori'' facts derived by reason and logic from sensory experience.John J. Macionis, Linda M. ...

Auguste Comte Isidore Marie Auguste François Xavier Comte (; 19 January 1798 – 5 September 1857) was a French philosopher and writer who formulated the doctrine of positivism. He is often regarded as the first philosopher of science in the modern sense ...

and

Émile Durkheim David Émile Durkheim ( or ; 15 April 1858 – 15 November 1917) was a French sociologist. Durkheim formally established the academic discipline of sociology and is commonly cited as one of the principal architects of modern social science, al ...

, the anthropologist defended the

as a "first form" (or, using the durkheimnian jargon, the "elementary form") used in the culture of a society. His name was given to the "

Museum of Craft Saul Alves Martins A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

", located in the city of

Vespasiano Vespasiano is a municipality in the Belo Horizonte metropolitan region in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, located north of Belo Horizonte. Vespasiano is home to Cidade do Galo, the training grounds of Campeonato Brasileiro Série A ...

, categorized as one of the top five museums of popular culture in Brazil. One should notice that the museum has a collection of a large number of works donated by the anthropologist, the fruit of his research and

fieldwork Field research, field studies, or fieldwork is the collection of raw data outside a laboratory, library, or workplace setting. The approaches and methods used in field research vary across disciplines. For example, biologists who conduct f ...

Poetry

Martins was also a poet, publishing several books in this genre, as well as contributions to compilations. As an example of his production in this area is worth mentioning the poem "Flores do Campo" (trans: "Flowers of the Field") as one of the ten best of the contemporary

sonnet A sonnet is a poetic form that originated in the poetry composed at the Court of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the Sicilian city of Palermo. The 13th-century poet and notary Giacomo da Lentini is credited with the sonnet's inventio ...

s in Minas Gerais, which led to the anthropologist the award received by the Academy of Letters of Minas Gerais in 1951. Here is a fragment of the sonnet: Besides his work as an anthropologist, he became a colonel and commanded battalions in Belo Horizonte. He is the author of the official anthem of the

Military Police of Minas Gerais A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distin ...

(PMMG), pointing to his poetic bias.

Published works

*''Canção da Terra''.(Poesia). 1ª Edição .Belo Horizonte. Editora “O Lutador”. Belo Horizonte. 1952. *''A dança de São Gonçalo''. Edição Mantiqueira. Belo Horizonte.1954. *''Opúsculo (1): artes e ofícios caseiros''. Separata da Revista do Arquivo. CLXIV. Obra premiada pela Discoteca Pública Municipal de São Paulo, 1959. *''Os jogos infantis e as cantigas de roda''. Edição do Centro Regional de Pesquisas Educacionais.MEC-INEP.Belo Horizonte, 1962. *''Opúsculo (2): o artesanato no Serro''. Edição da Secretaria de Estado do Trabalho e Cultura Popular de Minas Gerais. Imprensa Oficial. Belo Horizonte, 1964. *''Folheto (2): uma oficina em cada lar''. Edição da Secretaria de Estado do Trabalho e Cultura Popular de Minas Gerais. Belo Horizonte.Foi lema de Governo (Magalhães Pinto), 1964. *''Opúsculo (4): proteção ao artesanato''. Edição da Secretaria de Estado do Trabalho e Cultura Popular de Minas Gerais. Imprensa Oficial. Belo Horizonte, 1966. *''Antônio Dó''. Edição da Imprensa Oficial. Belo Horizonte. 1ª Edição, 1967. *''Opúsculo (5): o museu e as pesquisas artesanais''. Editora da Academia Patense de Letras. Patos de Minas, 1969. *''Os Barranqueiros''. Edição do Centro de Estudos Mineiros. UFMG. Belo Horizonte, 1969. *''Contribuição ao estudo científico do artesanato''. Edição da Imprensa Oficial. Belo Horizonte, 1973. *''O artesanato na região de Barreiros''. (Nota Prévia) Campus Avançado da UFMG. Conselho de Extensão.Barreiras. Bahia, 1973. *''Arte e artesanato folclóricos''. Edição do MEC – FUNARTE – CDFB . Rio de Janeiro, 1976. *''Arte popular figurativa''. Edições Carranca. Belo Horizonte, 1977. *''Folclore em Minas Gerais''. Edição do MEC-FUNARTE-INF, com participação da UFMG. Rio de Janeiro. 1ª edição, 1982. *''O misterioso número três''. Edições Carranca . Belo Horizonte, 1987. *''Folclore: teoria e método''. Edição da Secretaria de Estado da Cultura de Minas Gerais. Edição da Imprensa Oficial. Belo Horizonte, 1986. *''Congado: família de três irmãos''. Edição do SESC-MG. Belo Horizonte, 1988. *''Enciclopédia de literatura brasileira'' ontribuição a de Afrânio Coutinho, edição do MEC, 1990. *''Folclore em Minas Gerais''. Edição (ampliada) da UFMG. Belo Horizonte. 2ª edição, 1991. *''Canção da Terra''.(Poesia). Edição do Autor. Belo Horizonte.2ª edição, 1998. *''Dicionário Histórico e Biográfico Brasileiro'' ontribuição ao da Fundação Getúlio Vargas, publicado em 2002.

Notes

External links

*http://www.virtualismo.avbl.com.br/autores/silviamottapatrono.htm *http://redeminas.tv/Cmi/Pagina.aspx?7854 *http://www.cultura.mg.gov.br/?task=interna&sec=2&cat=42&con=1001&all_not=y&limitstart=90 *http://pt-br.wordpress.com/tag/museu-do-folclore-saul-alves-martins/ *http://recantodasletras.uol.com.br/acrosticos/82321 *http://www.ufmg.br/online/arquivos/014123.shtml *Article (in Portuguese) that analyses the importance and academic production of Brazilian military: http://historiayespacio.univalle.edu.co/TEXTOS/28/0628.PDF *http://www.fgr.org.br/2008/index.php?pg=concursos_culturais_alvino * :pt:Saul Alves Martins {{DEFAULTSORT:Martins, Saul Alves Brazilian anthropologists 1917 births 2009 deaths 20th-century anthropologists People from Januária