The intellectual thought of Estevão de Mendonça in the “Quadro Chorographico de Matto-Grosso” (1906)

Abstract

The intellectuals from Mato Grosso, between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, wondered if Mato Grosso would be able to civilize; If the exploration of the natural riches of the territory would elevate to the status of a modern paradise in the interior of Brazil. While the works of foreign travellers and the intellectuals and Brazilian leaders presented the state as a faraway land, with difficult access, violent, uncivilized and sparse population, the local intellectuals sought to develop a positive image about the region and its inhabitants. In this task, Estevão de Mendonça distinguished himself, the pioneer in building a positive image of the territory and the people from Mato Grosso, which opposed those images produced on the coast of the country and which could be appropriate in the classroom. This article aimed to focus the importance of Estevão de Mendonça’s textbook, the called “Quadro Chorographico de Matto-Grosso (1906), and his contributions to the history of education in the state, because it is the first compendium of descriptions of the region. Estevão de Mendonça’s textbook allows to notice the emergence of an intellectual thought distinctived by a social sensibility that translates, in the midst of so many defamations about Mato Grosso, marked by exquisite writing, whichs presents the interests and desires of elites from Mato Grosso.