Olívio Montenegro

Olívio Bezerra Montenegro (25 August 1896 – 16 February 1962) was a Brazilian writer, journalist, lawyer and teacher.

Biographer

Olívio Montenegro was born in Guarabira. He went to school in João Pessoa, the capital of Paraíba. He began studying law in São Paulo and graduated from the Recife Law School in 1917. The following year he was appointed public prosecutor in Nazaré da Mata, Pernambuco. In 1923 he became a municipal judge in Recife.

He did not serve in the judiciary for long, but went on to devote himself to teaching and journalism. He was a professor and director of the Pernambuco Gymnasium.

In journalism, he was a contributor to the Diário de Pernambuco from 1940 to 1962. He wrote for newspapers and magazines in Rio de Janeiro, such as Correio da Manhã. He was secretary of A Província, a periodical run by Gilberto Freyre.

He wrote a number of books, including the novel The Marçal Brothers (1922), A Revolutionary from Praieira: Borges da Fonseca (1938), a book that made him known in the field of literary criticism, Memories of the Pernambuco Gymnasium (1943), Essays (1954) and Leaves in the Wind (posthumous edition, 1969).

He was close friend with the writer José Lins do Rego (both from Paraíba), with whom he exchanged 132 letters. Montenegro was a bibliophile who owned one of the largest private libraries in Recife.

He died at 65 years of age in Recife during a lunch with friends.

Works

• Os Irmãos Marçal (1922)
• O Romance Brasileiro (1953)
• Ensaios (1954)
• Retratos e Outros Ensaios (1959)
• Folhas ao Vento (1969)
• Memórias do Ginásio Pernambuco (1979)

References

• Ribeiro Martins, Milena (2020). "Idealismo e Individualismo Num Raro Romance Pernambucano," Brasil/Brazil, Vol. XXXIII, No. 62, pp. 31–53.
• Valones, Eduardo Henrique Cirilo (1995). "Cartas de Olívio Montenegro." In: Cecília Almeida Salles & Philippe Willemart, eds., Gênese e Memória: IV Encontro Internacional de Pesquisadores do Manuscrito e de Edições. São Paulo: Annablume, 1995. pp. 63–68.