Francisco de Assis Chateaubriand Bandeira de Melo was the owner of a journalistic empire in Brazil. Born in Umbuzeiro, Paraíba, in 1892, he can be defined as a journalist, lawyer, businessman and politician, but he is mainly remembered for having owned the Associated Journals, a conglomerate that brought together dozens of newspapers, magazines and radio stations. One of his creations was the weekly magazine The Cruise, a pre-VEJA, which had great political influence. And let’s remember, of course, his most famous feat: Chatô brought television to Brazil by creating TV Tupi in 1950.
1. Chateaubriand studied law in Recife and debuted in journalism at age 15, writing for newspapers. In 1917, he moved to Rio de Janeiro, where he worked as a lawyer, but also collaborated for the Morning mail. He became known among businessmen, intellectuals and politicians and bought The newspaper in 1924. Four years later, he founded the magazine The Cruise
two. At the end of the 1920s, Chatô married Maria Henriqueta Barrozo do Amaral. But the highlight at that time was politics: with the help of the power of the press, he supported the movement that took Getúlio Vargas to the presidency of the country in 1930 and developed a relationship of support and opposition with him over the years.
3. An entrepreneur, Chatô was not satisfied with just dozens of newspapers, magazines and radio stations. It was then that, in 1950, in São Paulo, he brought another acquisition to the Associated Journals: TV Tupi, the first Brazilian and Latin American television station. Through TV and its other vehicles, it took the opportunity to launch itself in other areas
4. Always involved in politics, Chateaubriand was elected senator for Paraíba in 1952 and then for Maranhão in 1955. But he resigned from his second term to become Brazil’s ambassador to England. In the meantime, in 1954, he occupied former President Getúlio Vargas’ chair at the Brazilian Academy of Letters.
5. In the early 1960s, a thrombosis caused almost total paralysis in his body and the consequences ended up being fatal in the following years, until, in 1968, Chateaubriand died. It was veiled alongside two paintings: a cardinal by Velázquez and a nude by Renoir – an art lover, Chatô had founded the Museu de Artes de São Paulo (Masp) in 1947
TdF Suggested – Samuel Guterman
SOURCES UOL Educação – Biographies, Itaú Cultural Encyclopedia and Estadão Collection IMAGES Dissemination/reproduction and TV by Pexels