Rubem Braga

Who was Rubem Braga?

Rubem Braga was a notable Brazilian writer of short stories. He was born in Cachoeiro de Itapemirim city, state of Espírito Santo, on January 12, 1913.

Braga was raised in his hometown, but at an early age was sent to the city of Niterói by his parents, to live with relatives. He attended law school in Rio de Janeiro, but graduated in Minas Gerais, in the year of 1932, after having acted as a field reporter for the Diários Associados during the Revolução Constitucionalista.

During World War II he was a war correspondent along Brazilian forces for the Brazilian newspaper Diário Carioca in Italy. He subsequently returned to Brazil, taking definitive residence in Rio de Janeiro. Braga was arrested several times by the Nationalist military government of the time.

His first book O Conde e o Passarinho was published in 1936, when he was 22. He is one of few Brazilian writers to get recognition by writing short stories. Braga founded, together with Fernando Sabino and Otto Lara Resende, the book publisher Editora Sabiá.

As a journalist, Braga was a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers and magazines from Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Bahia. In 1953 he was nominated the Brazilian "Chefe do Escritório Comercial" in Chile, due to his friendship with president Café Filho. In 1961 he was appointed as Brazilian embassor to Morocco by president Jânio Quadros. During his last years of life he worked for Rede Globo. Braga died in Río de Janeiro on December 19, 1990.