Rodrigo Melo Franco

Rodrigo Melo Franco de Andrade
Andrade in 1955
Born(1898-08-17)17 August 1898
Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Died11 May 1969(1969-05-11) (aged 70)
Rio de Janeiro, Guanabara, Brazil
OccupationsLawyer, journalist, writer, editor, public administrator
Known forFounding and directing Brazil's federal heritage service, 1937–1967
MovementBrazilian modernism
SpouseGraciema Melo Franco de Andrade
RelativesAfonso Arinos (uncle)
Signature

Rodrigo Melo Franco de Andrade (17 August 1898 – 11 May 1969) was a Brazilian lawyer, journalist, writer, editor and public administrator. He organized the Serviço do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional (SPHAN) and directed it from 1937 to 1967. The agency later became the Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional (IPHAN).[a][1][2]

Under Andrade, SPHAN listed and restored buildings, prepared inventories and measured drawings, assembled document and photograph archives, created a specialized library, recovered works of art and opened museums. Its staff included writers, architects, historians and artists from Brazilian modernist circles, among them Mário de Andrade, Lúcio Costa, Manuel Bandeira, Carlos Drummond de Andrade, Oscar Niemeyer, Candido Portinari, Gilberto Freyre and Sérgio Buarque de Holanda.[1][3]

Early life and education

Andrade was born in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, on 17 August 1898. He was the eldest son of Rodrigo Bretas de Andrade and Dália Melo Franco de Andrade. He was educated at home before entering the Ginásio Mineiro in Belo Horizonte.[1][4]

When he was 12, Andrade moved to Paris and lived with his uncle, the writer Afonso Arinos. He completed his secondary education at the Lycée Janson-de-Sailly. Through his uncle, he met Brazilians living in or visiting Paris, including Graça Aranha, Tobias Monteiro and Alceu Amoroso Lima.[2][4]

Back in Brazil, Andrade studied law in Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte and São Paulo. He graduated from the former law faculty of the University of Rio de Janeiro, a predecessor of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro's law school.[1][4]

While studying in São Paulo, he worked at a bank and met Aníbal Machado, Mílton Campos, João Alphonsus, Carlos Drummond de Andrade, Pedro Nava, Abgar Renault and Oswald de Andrade. These friendships introduced him to the modernist movement.[4]

Journalism and modernism

Andrade began working as a journalist in 1921 at the newspaper O Dia. He later wrote for O Estado de Minas, A Manhã, Diário da Noite, O Estado de S. Paulo, O Cruzeiro, Diário Carioca, Módulo and O Jornal. His articles dealt with politics, education, government, literature, humor and the arts.[1][2]

After the Modern Art Week of 1922, Andrade became part of the Brazilian modernist movement.[b] In 1926, Assis Chateaubriand bought Revista do Brasil from Monteiro Lobato and appointed Andrade as editor-in-chief. Under Andrade, the magazine published writers and artists from the modernist movement.[1][4]

Public service before SPHAN

Andrade worked at the law office of his uncles Afrânio Franco and João de Melo Franco. He later became chief of staff to Francisco Campos, the minister of Education and Public Health. He also served as secretary-general of Transportation and Public Works in the Federal District.[c][4][2]

He married Graciema Melo Franco de Andrade in 1930. In December of that year, he recommended Lúcio Costa for the directorship of the Escola Nacional de Belas Artes, the National School of Fine Arts. Costa received the appointment.[4]

Their children included the filmmaker Joaquim Pedro de Andrade.[5]

Creation and direction of SPHAN

In 1936, education and health minister Gustavo Capanema asked Mário de Andrade to prepare a plan for a federal agency devoted to the protection of buildings, works of art and other cultural property. Mário de Andrade and Manuel Bandeira recommended Rodrigo Melo Franco de Andrade to organize and direct the new agency. Andrade began the work in 1936 and formally became director when SPHAN was established in 1937. He remained in the post until 1967.[1][6]

SPHAN was established in 1937, the year Getúlio Vargas created the Estado Novo.[d] Its early staff included people from different parts of Brazil's political spectrum, including members of the left.[1] IPHAN calls the agency's first decades its "heroic phase". A small staff had to set its working methods, recruit specialists and manage projects across the country.[1]

Heritage protection

SPHAN protected buildings, objects and sites through a legal process called tombamento.[e] The agency trained staff, prepared inventories, researched buildings and objects, measured and photographed structures, and supervised conservation and restoration work.[1][3][7]

The agency gathered material from public and private archives, formed a photographic archive and a specialized library, and recovered paintings, sculptures and documents. It opened the Museu da Inconfidência in Ouro Preto in 1938, the Museu das Missões in Santo Ângelo in 1940 and the Museu do Ouro in Sabará in 1945. These were followed by the Museu do Diamante in Diamantina in 1954, the Museu da Abolição in Recife in 1957 and the regional museum of São João del-Rei in 1963.[1][8]

Historian Márcia Chuva argues that Andrade and Lúcio Costa set SPHAN's early standards for listing and restoration through a modernist view of colonial buildings and religious art. They favored works judged to have exceptional artistic or architectural qualities.[9][3]

Staff and collaborators

From left, Candido Portinari, Antônio Bento, Mário de Andrade and Andrade at the Palace Hotel in Rio de Janeiro, 1936

Andrade recruited writers, historians, anthropologists, architects and artists for SPHAN. Among them were Oscar Niemeyer, Luiz de Castro Faria, Sérgio Buarque de Holanda, Heloísa Alberto Torres, Vinicius de Moraes, Candido Portinari, Gilberto Freyre, Carlos Drummond de Andrade, Renato Soeiro and Lúcio Costa.

The staff and outside collaborators also included Lígia Martins Costa, Sílvio Vasconcelos, Augusto Carlos da Silva Teles, Alcides da Rocha Miranda, José de Sousa Reis, Edson Motta, Judith Martins, Paulo Thedim Barreto, Miran de Barros Latif, Luís Saia, Airton Carvalho and Edgar Jacinto da Silva.[1][3]

Architectural historian Flavia Brito do Nascimento writes that architects were the largest professional group in SPHAN's early staff. Lúcio Costa directed much of the agency's architectural work. The architects concentrated on colonial buildings and town centers and used modernist ideas when choosing and restoring older structures.[3]

Revista do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional

The Revista do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional began publication in 1937.[f] Andrade served as its editor and invited contributors he knew from his years in journalism and publishing. The journal published articles, photographs, drawings and documents about Brazilian architecture, art and history.[10][11]

Andrade also directed the Publicações do SPHAN series, which published studies of architecture, art, archaeology and protected buildings.[11]

The journal's early issues examined buildings and works of art chosen for protection. They also explained how SPHAN's historians, architects and conservators studied buildings, objects and documents.[10][11]

Publications

In 1925, Andrade published the poem "Ode pessimista" in the magazine Estética. His short-story collection Velórios followed in 1936 and contained eight stories.[11]

He also wrote about Brazilian art, architecture and history. His books included Brasil: monumentos históricos e arqueológicos, published in 1952, Rio-Branco e Gastão da Cunha, published in 1953, and Artistas coloniais, published in 1958.[4][2]

His articles covered colonial painting in Minas Gerais, civil architecture, older building methods and artists from the colonial era. He wrote about Antônio Francisco Lisboa, known as Aleijadinho, and worked for the protection of colonial buildings and works of art.[2][12]

Two volumes of his writing were published after his death. Rodrigo e seus tempos: coletânea de textos sobre artes e letras came out in 1986, followed by Rodrigo e o Sphan: coletânea de textos sobre o patrimônio cultural in 1987.[4]

Later years and death

Andrade retired as director of the federal heritage agency in 1967, after thirty years in the post. He remained a member of its Consultative Council until his death in Rio de Janeiro on 11 May 1969.[2][8]

Rodrigo Melo Franco de Andrade Award

IPHAN established the Prêmio Rodrigo Melo Franco de Andrade in 1987.[g] Presented across Brazil, it supports projects that protect buildings, objects, archives and cultural practices.[6]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The Portuguese name Serviço do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional means "National Historical and Artistic Heritage Service".
  2. ↑ The Modern Art Week was held in São Paulo in February 1922. Its exhibitions, concerts and lectures brought together artists and writers who challenged the rules taught by Brazilian art schools and literary academies.
  3. ↑ The Federal District then consisted of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil's capital until 1960.
  4. ↑ The Estado Novo was the authoritarian government led by Getúlio Vargas from 1937 to 1945.
  5. ↑ The closest English term for tombamento is "heritage listing". A protected property cannot be demolished or altered without official approval.
  6. ↑ The journal's title means "Journal of National Historical and Artistic Heritage".
  7. ↑ The title means "Rodrigo Melo Franco de Andrade Award".

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Perfil: Rodrigo Melo Franco de Andrade". Desafios do Desenvolvimento (in Portuguese). Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada. 23 July 2010. Retrieved 17 July 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Rodrigo Melo Franco de Andrade". Enciclopédia Itaú Cultural de Arte e Cultura Brasileira (in Portuguese). Itaú Cultural. Retrieved 17 July 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Nascimento, Flavia Brito do (26 June 2024). "Arquitetos modernistas". Dicionário do Patrimônio Cultural (in Portuguese). Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional. Retrieved 17 July 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Pinheiro, Maria Lucia Bressan (2023). "Antes do Sphan: notas biográficas sobre a trajetória de Rodrigo Melo Franco de Andrade nas décadas de 1920 e 1930". Anais do Museu Paulista (in Portuguese). 31: 1–40. doi:10.11606/1982-02672023v31e22. Retrieved 17 July 2026.
  5. ↑ Oliveira, Meire (12 September 2018). "O cinema de nossa gente". Instituto Moreira Salles (in Portuguese). Retrieved 17 July 2026.
  6. 1 2 "Prêmio Rodrigo Melo Franco de Andrade". Gov.br (in Portuguese). Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional. Retrieved 17 July 2026.
  7. ↑ "Bens tombados". Gov.br (in Portuguese). Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional. Retrieved 17 July 2026.
  8. 1 2 Bauer, Letícia Brandt (2015). O homem e o monumento: criações e recriações de Rodrigo Melo Franco de Andrade (PhD thesis) (in Portuguese). Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. Retrieved 17 July 2026.
  9. ↑ Chuva, Márcia (2012). "O modernismo nas restaurações do SPHAN: entre a tradição e a invenção". Revista do Instituto de Estudos Brasileiros (in Portuguese) (55): 137–156. doi:10.11606/issn.2316-901X.v0i55p137-156. Retrieved 17 July 2026.
  10. 1 2 Leal, Claudia Feierabend Baeta (18 September 2024). "Histórico". Revista do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional (in Portuguese). Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional. Retrieved 17 July 2026.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Silva, André Fabrício (2026). "Redes de sociabilidade e legitimação do patrimônio: a atuação de Rodrigo Melo Franco de Andrade como editor da Revista do Patrimônio (1937–1945)". Revista do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional (in Portuguese) (41). Retrieved 17 July 2026.
  12. ↑ "Revista do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional, n. 18". Biblioteca Digital do IPHAN (in Portuguese). Retrieved 11 May 2026.

Further reading

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