TheBrazilianAcademyofLetters

The literary scene of the colonial period was full of academies. It was common for the (few) intellectuals and writers to form societies to cultivate some kind of exchange and promote cultural activities. Some became famous, such as the Academia Brasílica dos Esquecidos, the Academia dos Seletos, or the Academia dos Felizes. In a precarious way, with difficulties in maintaining continuity, such collectives of writers – ranging from men of letters to physicians, from historians to philologists – had been present on the Brazilian scene since the 18th century.

Besides the old Academies, there were also the Societies. In any case, literature and books were losing ground to other popular art forms, such as music and theater. Although the great names who emerged in the second half of the 19th century were famous among the city's circle of readers, Machado de Assis stated, in a column for the Diário do Rio de Janeiro published on March 24, 1862, that “It can be said that our literary movement is among the most insignificant possible. Few books are published, and even fewer are read.” Even with successes in serialized novels already in circulation, the young columnist, not knowing what future awaited him, found the literary field scattered and lacking support from either the imperial power or society.

Image description: The image is a photograph of an old newspaper. The spatial layout begins on the left, where we see letters in bold, followed by a horizontal line that divides the text into two parts. On the right, there is more text, but less visible. The background is white, and the text is written in black. There are no additional colors beyond black and white. The text reads as follows: "It can be said that our literary movement is among the most insignificant possible. Few books are published, and even fewer are read. Shallow, flimsy reading is greatly appreciated, of the poorly constructed and highly eventful novel, but the people's literary taste does not go beyond that."

Even so, the Academies, Societies and associations in general grew, in the years that accompanied the formation of the Rio and Brazilian literary scene. There were hundreds of groups promoting meetings and publications. In Rio de Janeiro, a close-knit group of writers who met frequently in private homes, restaurant salons, hotels and newspaper offices began organizing an entity, along the lines of the French model of the Casa de Richelieu, which would have a mission on behalf of the Portuguese language and would be able to bring together not only literary figures, but other personalities who were part of Rio's and Brazil's intellectual elite.

In 1890, troubled by the lack of professionalism with which the press treated the contributions of its chroniclers and collaborating writers, and with an eye on the issue of copyright, Machado de Assis himself and more than a hundred authors, such as Pardal Mallet, Raul Pompéia, Coelho Neto, José do Patrocínio, Silvio Romero, and Araripe Jr., came together to create the Sociedade dos Homens de Letras do Brasil (Society of Men of Letters of Brazil). The idea did not work out as they had envisioned, but it was an initiative that rehearsed what the Academia Brasileira de Letras would come to be.

It was on the initiative of Lúcio de Mendonça, with the participation of enthusiastic collaborators such as José Veríssimo, Afonso Celso and Medeiros e Albuquerque, and after a series of meetings with different authors that, on December 15, 1896, under the presidency of Machado de Assis, unanimously acclaimed, the work of what would become the future Academy began.

Image description: This is a black-and-white photograph of a statue located in front of a building with large windows and classical columns. The statue is positioned in the center of the image, with the figure seated on a stone throne. In the background, there is a large window with many stained-glass panels, and to the left and right are the building's columns. At the base of the statue, there are inscriptions in Portuguese.

After the preparatory meetings held at the offices of the Revista Brasileira - a publication created by the critic José Veríssimo -, on January 28, 1897, the institution's statutes and the composition of forty founding and permanent members were approved - hence being immortal. Along with the position of president, granted to Machado, the document was signed by: Joaquim Nabuco as secretary-general, Rodrigo Otávio as first secretary, Silva Ramos as second secretary, and Inglês de Souza as treasurer.

Image description: This is an old sepia-toned photograph showing a group of men in formal attire, possibly at the Brazilian Academy of Letters. The men are arranged in two rows: in the front row, three are seated in chairs, while in the back row, ten are standing behind those seated. Everyone appears to be in a room with beige walls and a geometric-patterned floor.

The official inauguration session of the Academia Brasileira de Letras took place on July 20, 1897, in the halls of the Pedagogium, a public institution devoted to the cultural aspect of the city, located on Rua do Passeio. Without a fixed headquarters and without financial assistance from the republican government – as was, in fact, the original idea behind the ABL project –, only in 1923, after the Centennial of Independence exhibition, did the French government donate the building called Petit Trianon, a replica of the building of the same name located in Versailles, which had served as the space for the French delegation during the 1922 celebrations.

Image description: This is a photograph of a classic building located in a city. On the left side, we see a green tree and some modern buildings in the background. In the center, there is a large building with Doric columns and rectangular windows. On the right, there is a yellow stone fence with metal railings. In front, there is a parked car and a lamppost. The sky is light blue, and there is a sign with the name "Academia Brasileira de Letras" on the building's façade.

Since then, the Brazilian Academy of Letters has been home to a series of names, controversies and conflicts that marked literary trajectories – for better and for worse. Home to Machado, Coelho Neto and Graça Aranha, it saw the admission of João do Rio and the rejection of Lima Barreto, to stick to the extremes of its early days. Renewing its profile over the decades, it remains a space of recognition and one of the main representatives of the literary history of Rio de Janeiro.