Statue of Carlos Drummond de Andrade

In 1919, during his final year of school, Carlos Drummond de Andrade was expelled from the Jesuit boarding school, Colégio Anchieta, in Rio de Janeiro, for “intellectual insubordination” after arguing with his Portuguese teacher. Time vindicated the poet from Minas Gerais, born in Itabira, who even then showed a strong affinity for words. Years later, Drummond proved to be one of the greatest figures in Brazilian poetry.

Carlos Drummond in his graduation photo, 1925. Casa de Rui Barbosa Foundation Collection/Archive of the Museu de Literatura Brasileira.  

Although Drummond graduated in Pharmacy and worked as a school geography teacher, his vocation for writing, especially poetry, blossomed at a young age. He was born in 1902 and published his poem No meio do caminho (In the Middle of the Road) in 1928 in São Paulo’s Revista de Antropofagia, run by Tarsila do Amaral and Oswald de Andrade. With its iconic verses, “In the middle of the road there was a stone / There was a stone in the middle of the road,” the poem was considered one of the greatest literary scandals in Brazil at the time.

In 1934, Carlos Drummond de Andrade moved to Rio de Janeiro to serve as chief of staff for Gustavo Capanema, who had just been appointed Minister of Education and Public Health by Getúlio Vargas. This marked the beginning of a 35-year career as a civil servant, during which time he held various positions in different departments. In parallel to his government work, Drummond wrote for newspapers and published books. In 1982, at the age of 80, he was awarded the title of Doctor Honoris Causa by the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN).

Carlos Drummond de Andrade lived in Copacabana from the 1930s and over time became a true inhabitant of the city of beaches. He left behind the mining town of Itabira and provincial Belo Horizonte, preserving his memories in verse. He lived at two different addresses: Rua Joaquim Nabuco 81, from 1934 to 1962, and later moved to apartment 701 in the Luiz Felipe Building, located at Conselheiro Lafayete 60, bordering Ipanema. From the window of his apartment on Conselheiro Lafayete, he observed the daily lives of the seasons and the people, urban transformations, and the passage of time.

Carlos Drummond in Copacabana, 1972. Casa de Rui Barbosa Foundation Collection/Archive of the Museu de Literatura Brasileira. 

In this city of Rio de Janeiro,
with two million inhabitants,
I am alone in the room,
I am alone in America.
(The Witch, 1942)

Appropriately, his statue sits on a bench by the sea, where the poet from Minas Gerais was immortalized as one of the most famous statues in Rio. The life-sized statue of Carlos Drummond de Andrade is made of bronze and was inaugurated on 30 October, 2022, by the artist, Léo Santana, on the eve of the poet’s centenary. Drummond is located on Avenida Atlântica, seated on a bench by the sea.

The photograph of Carlos Drummond de Andrade that became a statue. Rogério Reis, 1983.

The writer’s pose, depicted sitting with a book on his crossed legs, with his back to the sea, observing passersby on the boardwalk, was inspired by a photograph of Drummond taken by Rogério Reis. On the bench, there is an inscription that reads, “No mar estava escrita uma cidade” (“In the sea, a city was written”), a line from the poem “Mas Viveremos” (“But We Will Live”), featured in the book A Rosa do Povo (The People’s Rose, 1945).

Wikimédia Commons