CATHOLICS OF THE ACADEMY: PATRONS AND THE FIRST ACADEMICS OF THE ACADEMIA NORTE-RIO-GRANDENSE DE LETRAS (1936-1938)

Abstract

The article analyzes the role of Catholic thought in the formation of the Academia Norte-Rio-Grandense de Letras (ANL), created on November 14, 1936. The text highlights in this process the actions of Luis da Câmara Cascudo (a Catholic intellectual with strong ties within Political power and within the press) and Canon Luiz Gonzaga do Monte (expression of the Catholic ideology in Natal). In the investigation was built a prosopography of the men who were bound to the entity at the time of its creation. The research evaluated the profile of the organizers, the choice of the patrons of the first chairs and common and divergent points among the first academics. From the empirical point of view, the research uses as sources The Order (Catholic newspaper) and The Republic, organ of the government of the state. Theoretically, the text uses the studies of Imíscoz and makes use of the onomastic method, as proposed by Ginzburg, to understand the social networks present in the ANL. This research concludes that Catholic interests defined the ANL format, being essential in choosing the founding assumptions, the patrons of the seats and their first occupants.