Adalgisa Nery
Encyclopedia
Adalgisa Nery was a Brazil
ian poet
, journalist
and politician
. She was born in Rio de Janeiro
as Adalgisa Maria Feliciana Noel Cancela Ferreira, the daughter of a civil servant. In 1922 she married Ismael Nery
(1900–1934), a painter
and poet who introduced Adalgisa to a circle of Brazilian artists and intellectuals that included Manuel Bandeira
, Jorge de Lima
and Murilo Mendes
. The Nerys lived in Europe from 1927 to 1929, where they met the artist Marc Chagall
and the Brazilian composer
Heitor Villa-Lobos
. Ismael died of tuberculosis
in 1934, leaving Adalgisa with two sons.
Nery began to publish poetry and fiction after her first husband's death. Her first book, Poemas, published in 1937, received critical acclaim, and she wrote short stories
and magazine articles. Although the poet Murilo Mendes had proposed marriage to Nery in the late 1930s, she married in 1940 Lourival Fontes
(1899–1967), director general of the Department of Press and Propaganda (DIP). In the dictatorship ("Estado Novo
") of Getúlio Vargas
, the DIP was in charge of censorship
. Nery assisted the DIP as a social director and public relations
officer. When Fontes was named Brazilian ambassador
to Mexico
in 1944, Nery accompanied him and met Diego Rivera
(who painted Nery's portrait), Frida Kahlo
, José Clemente Orozco
and David Alfaro Siqueiros
.
After Nery and Fontes separated in 1953, Nery began the political phase of her career. As a columnist
for the Rio de Janeiro newspaper
Última Hora from 1954 to 1966, she advocated socialism
and Brazilian nationalism
. The success of her newspaper column helped Nery to be elected as a member of the constituent assembly for Guanabara State
(now the city of Rio de Janeiro) in 1960 for the Brazilian Socialist Party
(PSB). Nery distinguished herself in the state legislature for her opposition to Guanabara Governor Carlos Lacerda
and her high ethical
standards. She was reelected to the state legislature in 1962 and 1966. After the military regime
banned political parties in 1965, Nery joined the Brazilian Democratic Movement
(MDB), which was the official opposition to the military regime
. In 1969, the military junta
then governing Brazil ended Nery's mandate and stripped her of the right to run for office or vote for 10 years.
Nery spent the last years of her life in increasing depression
and seclusion
. She died in a retirement home
in Rio de Janeiro.
Various short stories and poems by Nery have been translated into English
, French
, German
and Italian
.
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
. She was born in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
as Adalgisa Maria Feliciana Noel Cancela Ferreira, the daughter of a civil servant. In 1922 she married Ismael Nery
Ismael Nery
Ismael Nery was a Brazilian artist.Born in Belém, Pará of Dutch, Native-Brazilian and African ancestry, he studied at the Escola Nacional de Belas Artes in Rio de Janeiro and at the Académie Julian in Paris...
(1900–1934), a painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
and poet who introduced Adalgisa to a circle of Brazilian artists and intellectuals that included Manuel Bandeira
Manuel Bandeira
Manuel Carneiro de Sousa Bandeira Filho was a poet, literary critic, and translator.Bandeira wrote over 20 books of poetry and prose. In 1904, he found out that he suffered from tuberculosis, which encouraged him to move from São Paulo to Rio de Janeiro, because of Rio's tropical beach weather...
, Jorge de Lima
Jorge de Lima
Jon Mateus de Lima, was a politician, poet, and writer of Alagoas.His most famous works are the novels "A Mulher Obscura" and "Calunga"; and "A Túnica Inconsútil" and "A Invenção de Orfeu"...
and Murilo Mendes
Murilo Mendes
Murilo Mendes was an exponent of Modernist poetry in Brazil. He lived in Europe twice and died in Lisbon. His greatest connection in Europe though was to Rome...
. The Nerys lived in Europe from 1927 to 1929, where they met the artist Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall Art critic Robert Hughes referred to Chagall as "the quintessential Jewish artist of the twentieth century."According to art historian Michael J...
and the Brazilian composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
Heitor Villa-Lobos
Heitor Villa-Lobos
Heitor Villa-Lobos was a Brazilian composer, described as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music". Villa-Lobos has become the best-known and most significant Latin American composer to date. He wrote numerous orchestral, chamber, instrumental and vocal works...
. Ismael died of tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
in 1934, leaving Adalgisa with two sons.
Nery began to publish poetry and fiction after her first husband's death. Her first book, Poemas, published in 1937, received critical acclaim, and she wrote short stories
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
and magazine articles. Although the poet Murilo Mendes had proposed marriage to Nery in the late 1930s, she married in 1940 Lourival Fontes
Lourival Fontes
Lourival Fontes was a Brazilian journalist and politician best known for being the propaganda minister for President Getúlio Vargas between 1934 and 1942. He was born in Riachão do Dantas, Sergipe and married the poet Adalgisa Nery in 1940....
(1899–1967), director general of the Department of Press and Propaganda (DIP). In the dictatorship ("Estado Novo
Estado Novo (Brazil)
Vargas Era is the period in the history of Brazil that lasted from 1930 to 1945, when the country was under the leadership of Getúlio Dornelles Vargas....
") of Getúlio Vargas
Getúlio Vargas
Getúlio Dornelles Vargas served as President of Brazil, first as dictator, from 1930 to 1945, and in a democratically elected term from 1951 until his suicide in 1954. Vargas led Brazil for 18 years, the most for any President, and second in Brazilian history to Emperor Pedro II...
, the DIP was in charge of censorship
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
. Nery assisted the DIP as a social director and public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
officer. When Fontes was named Brazilian ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
to Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
in 1944, Nery accompanied him and met Diego Rivera
Diego Rivera
Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez was a prominent Mexican painter born in Guanajuato, Guanajuato, an active communist, and husband of Frida Kahlo . His large wall works in fresco helped establish the Mexican Mural Movement in...
(who painted Nery's portrait), Frida Kahlo
Frida Kahlo
Frida Kahlo de Rivera was a Mexican painter, born in Coyoacán, and perhaps best known for her self-portraits....
, José Clemente Orozco
José Clemente Orozco
José Clemente Orozco was a Mexican social realist painter, who specialized in bold murals that established the Mexican Mural Renaissance together with murals by Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and others...
and David Alfaro Siqueiros
David Alfaro Siqueiros
José David Alfaro Siqueiros was a social realist painter, known for his large murals in fresco that helped establish the Mexican Mural Renaissance, together with works by Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco, and also a member of the Mexican Communist Party who participated in an...
.
After Nery and Fontes separated in 1953, Nery began the political phase of her career. As a columnist
Columnist
A columnist is a journalist who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs....
for the Rio de Janeiro newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
Última Hora from 1954 to 1966, she advocated socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
and Brazilian nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
. The success of her newspaper column helped Nery to be elected as a member of the constituent assembly for Guanabara State
Guanabara State
The State of Guanabara was a former Brazilian state that existed from 1960 to 1975. It comprised the city of Rio de Janeiro, after the national capital was moved to Brasília in 1960...
(now the city of Rio de Janeiro) in 1960 for the Brazilian Socialist Party
Brazilian Socialist Party
The Brazilian Socialist Party , is a political party in Brazil. It was founded in 1947, before being abolished by the military regime in 1965 and re-organized in 1985 with the re-democratization of Brazil. It elected six Governors in 2010, becoming the second largest party in number of state...
(PSB). Nery distinguished herself in the state legislature for her opposition to Guanabara Governor Carlos Lacerda
Carlos Lacerda
Carlos Frederico Werneck de Lacerda was a Brazilian journalist and politician.Born in Rio de Janeiro, Lacerda was the son of a family of politicians from Vassouras, Rio de Janeiro State....
and her high ethical
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
standards. She was reelected to the state legislature in 1962 and 1966. After the military regime
History of Brazil (1964-1985)
The Brazilian military government was the authoritarian regime which ruled Brazil from March 31, 1964 to March 15, 1985. It began with the 1964 coup d'état led by the Armed Forces against the democratically elected government of left-wing President João Goulart and ended when José Sarney took...
banned political parties in 1965, Nery joined the Brazilian Democratic Movement
Brazilian Democratic Movement
The Brazilian Democratic Movement was a political party in Brazil that existed from 1965 to 1979. It was formed in 1965, when the military government that overthrew President João Goulart abolished all existing political parties...
(MDB), which was the official opposition to the military regime
Military dictatorship
A military dictatorship is a form of government where in the political power resides with the military. It is similar but not identical to a stratocracy, a state ruled directly by the military....
. In 1969, the military junta
Military dictatorship
A military dictatorship is a form of government where in the political power resides with the military. It is similar but not identical to a stratocracy, a state ruled directly by the military....
then governing Brazil ended Nery's mandate and stripped her of the right to run for office or vote for 10 years.
Nery spent the last years of her life in increasing depression
Clinical depression
Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
and seclusion
Solitude
Solitude is a state of seclusion or isolation, i.e., lack of contact with people. It may stem from bad relationships, deliberate choice, infectious disease, mental disorders, neurological disorders or circumstances of employment or situation .Short-term solitude is often valued as a time when one...
. She died in a retirement home
Retirement home
A retirement home is a multi-residence housing facility intended for senior citizens. Typically each person or couple in the home has an apartment-style room or suite of rooms. Additional facilities are provided within the building, including facilities for meals, gathering, recreation, and some...
in Rio de Janeiro.
Various short stories and poems by Nery have been translated into English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
and Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
.
Works
- Poemas 1937
- A mulher ausente (poems) 1940
- Og (short stories) 1943
- Ar do deserto (poems) 1943
- Cantas de angústia (poems) 1948
- As fronteiras da quarta dimensão (poems) 1952
- A imaginária (novel) 1959
- Mundos oscilantes (poems) 1962
- Retrato sem retoque (collection of newspaper columns) 1966
- 22 menos 1 (short stories) 1972
- Neblina (novel) 1972
- Erosão (poems) 1973