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The Spiritist Magazine in Brazil |
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In order to
disseminate
Spiritism to
the public,
Alan Kardec
launched in
January 1858
the
Spiritist
Magazine, a
monthly
periodical
that he
directed
until his
disincarnating
in March,
1869. The
publication
was a great
success
since it had
the most
diverse
studies,
messages of
the Spirits,
letters,
reports of
the Parisian
Society of
Spiritist
Studies (the
first
official
Spiritist
Center in
the world),
and it was
also very
important
because of
the
knowledge of
the
Spiritist
principles
and their
application
in life.
Aware of the
importance
of the
Spiritist
Magazine
even because
the Encoder
had
recommended
it in The
Book of
Mediums, two
Brazilian
Spiritists
from Sao
Paulo and of
great
relevance in
the
Brazilian
Spiritist
Movement
decided to
translate
into
Portuguese
the 136
French
editions
that make up
the 12 years
(January
1858 to
April 1869)
in which
Kardec was
at the head
of the
prestigious
magazine. We
are talking
about Julio
Abreu Filho
and Jose
Herculano
Pires.
In this text
we intend to
report a
little of
this saga
carried out
by the two
translators,
as well as
the crucial
participation
of the
publisher
Frederico
Giannini
Junior, at
the head of
Editora
Cultural
Espirita -
Edicel,
responsible
for the
pioneering
publication
of the
Spiritist
Magazine
collection
in Brazil.
Let's start
by giving a
biographical
sketch about
each of our
characters,
situating
the reader
in general
lines about
the leading
figures of
this
beautiful
story.
Julio Abreu
Filho
He was born
on December
10, 1893, in
the city of
Quixada
(State of
Ceara), and
he moved to
Salvador,
Bahia, in
1911, living
and working
in the city
of Ilheus.
In 1921 he
settled in
Rio de
Janeiro and
then, due to
his
profession,
he was
transferred,
and went to
live in Sao
Paulo,
capital. He
devoted
himself to
the teaching
profession
and also
made a
career as an
employee of
the
Secretary of
Agriculture
of the State
of Sao
Paulo,
having
participated
in the
implementation
of numerous
rural
projects. In
the 1940s he
was an
active
participant
in the Sao
Paulo
Spiritist
movement
through the
Uniao
Federativa
Espirita
Paulista,
and was
widely
involved in
the
Brazilian
Congress of
Spiritist
Unification,
held in 1947
in the city
of Sao
Paulo.
In 1949 he
began to
translate
the
Spiritist
Magazine,
having even
founded a
publishing
house -
Editora
Edipo – to
publish it.
As the work
was gigantic
and
resources
scarce, the
publisher
did not
succeed, but
the
translation
efforts
continued,
until in the
late 1960s
it was
possible to
launch it by
Edicel.
Having
collaborated
in the
Spiritist
press and
released
some books,
Julio Abreu
Filho
disembodied
in Sao Paulo
on September
28, 1971, at
the age of
78.
Jose
Herculano
Pires
He was born
on September
25, 1914 in
Avare, SP,
and lived in
Cerqueira
Cesar and
later in
Marilia,
where he
dedicated
himself
intensely to
his literary
and
journalistic
career. In
1946 he
moved to Sao
Paulo, where
he published
his first
novel. He
entered the
Associated
Diaries as a
reporter,
editor,
secretary,
parliamentary
chronicler
and literary
critic. He
graduated in
Philosophy
by USP, and
as a young
man he
became
acquainted
with
Spiritism,
and since
then he
actively
participated
in the
Spiritist
movement. He
founded the
Spiritist
Journalists
Club of Sao
Paulo
(1948). A
close friend
of the
medium Chico
Xavier, he
maintained
for 20 years
a daily
column on
Spiritism in
the
Associated
Diaries.
Jose
Herculano
Pires’
biography is
extensive.
He led the
foundation
of the Union
of Spiritist
Societies of
the State of
Sao Paulo
and the
Spiritist
Institute of
Education.
He created
the Paideia
Publishing
House and
his literary
legacy
consists of
81 books,
besides the
translation
and/or
revision of
the works of
Allan
Kardec. He
was a great
defender of
the
education in
the
Spiritist
vision; he
disembodied
in March 9,
1979, at the
age of 65.
Frederico
Giannini
Junior
He was born
in the city
of Sao
Carlos,
State of Sao
Paulo, on
March 12,
1908. He was
one of the
pioneers in
the edition
of Spiritist
books in
Brazil,
having
founded
Editora
Cultural
Espirita,
known by the
abbreviation
Edicel, and
it was in
Sao Paulo
that he
worked and
formed his
family. With
his friend
Jose
Herculano
Pires, he
accepted the
challenge of
publishing
new
translations
of Allan
Kardec's
works,
including
the
Spiritist
Magazine, in
a work that
required a
lot of
dedication
and
financial
resources
when the
Spiritist
movement, in
general,
still did
not have the
importance
to be
studied or
even publish
books.
His efforts
were
successful
with the
launching of
the first
volume of
the
magazine's
collection
in 1967. A
pioneer as a
Spirit
publisher,
in 1972 he
launched the
first volume
of the
Spiritist
Education
Magazine in
a new
association
with
Herculano
Pires. He
disembodied
on June 22,
1984, at the
age of 76.
The
Spiritist
Magazine in
Portuguese
For many
years Julio
Abreu Filho
worked alone
in the
translation
of the
monthly
volumes of
the
Spiritist
Magazine,
having
started the
work in
1949. A
friend of
Jose
Herculano
Pires, he
entrusted to
him the work
of revision.
The
translation
of French
from the
mid-19th
century into
Portuguese
is not such
an easy
task,
because one
cannot
simply
translate
the text
literally,
as this may
distort the
original
meaning.
There were
two
essential
conditions
for the
work: a
correct
version for
the
Portuguese
language and
total
doctrinal
fidelity to
Kardec.
Jorge
Rizzini in
his book Herculano
Pires, the
Apostle of
Kardec,
says that
"Edicel's
Advisor,
Herculano
Pires
encouraged
Frederico
Giannini to
publish the
complete
collection
of Allan
Kardec's
works,
including
the Spiritist
Magazine,
with its
twelve
volumes in a
total of
4,800 pages
that the
late
companion
Julio Abreu
Filho had
been
translating
for years,
patiently,
even though
he was ill.
The
publishing
venture was
risky, and
Giannini,
although not
having great
financial
possessions,
signed the
contract
drawn up by
Herculano
Pires on
October 18,
1966".
In his
diary,
Herculano
Pires noted,
with regard
to this
gigantic
work of
publishing
the
Spiritist
Magazine: "A
hassle
without
limits. I
have to work
hard in this
job, because
Kardec’s
work has
been
accomplished
through
successive
translations,
one copied
from
another. The
volumes are
presented to
the public
today in the
same text of
a century
ago, without
information
or an
annotation,
nothing at
all, and
generally in
translations
poorly cared
for. I feel
small for
the
greatness of
the task,
but I have
to
acknowledge
that I have
to do it
alone,
unless God
allows the
appearance
of someone
to help. We
have tried
to find
people fit
for this,
but we found
nobody.
Giannini
even
promoted a
contest, and
nothing! You
have the
impression
that French
is, in
Brazil, a
language
more unknown
than the
Etruscan...
There are
many
translators traditori,
but for a
really
serious
work, no one
turns up".
At the
request of
Herculano,
God brought
three
collaborators:
Sylvia Mele
Pereira da
Silva, a
Teacher in
French who
also
collaborated
in the
translation
of works of
Spiritism,
and two
French
intellectuals
living in
Brazil:
Miguel
Maillet and
Anne Marie,
who
dedicated
themselves
to the work
of revision
of the
translation
made by
Julio Abreu
Filho.
Herculano
Pires was
not
satisfied
with the
translation
of several
passages,
and
dedicated
many hours
and dawns of
his life in
this
revision.
And this was
not his only
job. He
translated
the poetry
of the
Spirits and
made a point
of
publishing
them
together
with the
original
French text,
and also
prefaced
several of
the volumes,
with deep
and very
important
explanations.
These
prefaces
appear in
the editions
of the years
1858, 1859,
1860 and
1861,
remembering
that the
Spiritist
Magazine
Collection
is composed
of 11
complete
volumes
(1858-1868),
each volume
corresponding
to the
respective
monthly
editions,
and the
volume
corresponding
to the year
1869, with
the
magazines
from January
to July,
being that
from January
to April
with the
complete
writings of
Allan
Kardec, and
from May to
July with
several
articles
left by the
Encoder.
During the
years in
which
Frederic
Giannini,
through
Edicel,
published
the copies
of the
Codification,
two graphic
industries
were used:
Saraiva and
Symbol, both
with
headquarters
in the city
of Sao
Paulo.
Bases for
the future
The
pioneering
work of
Julio Abreu
Filho, Jose
Herculano
Pires and
Frederico
Giannini
Junior, to
whom we owe
our
gratitude,
opened new
perspectives
for the
expanding of
knowledge of
Spiritism
and the work
of Allan
Kardec. In
the path of
the
repercussion
of this
work, two
other
Spiritist
publishers
also
accepted the
challenge of
translating
and
publishing
the
Spiritist
Magazine:
the
Spiritist
Dissemination
Institute
(IDE) and
the
Brazilian
Spiritist
Federation
(FEB).
Nowadays, we
do not have
the
important
work of
these
companions
available
anymore, and
they can
only be
found in
bookstores,
or with
people who
still have
in their
libraries
this
important
collection.
We leave
here this
historical
record, the
year in
which we
celebrated
160 years of
the
launching of
the
Spiritist
Magazine, an
indispensable
work for
reading and
study. And
we conclude
with the
words of
Herculano
Pires in the
preface to
the first
volume, in
an
invitation
to all
Spiritists
to reflect
on the
importance
of the
Spiritist
Magazine:
"We can
follow in
these pages,
step by
step, the
great and
meticulous
effort of
Kardec in
the
methodical
construction
of the
Doctrine and
in the
structuring
of the
Spiritist
movement".
The History
of Spiritism
thus
presents
itself as a
way of
living that
was self-set
in
writing...
Nothing is
hidden from
the reader:
Kardec's
problems,
concerns,
his
struggles
inside and
outside the
Spiritist
environment,
his quiet
victories,
and his
resistance
to slander,
lies,
defamation,
his
unshakable
faith, all
this
pulsates in
these pages
and gives us
the
impression
of living
next to the
Encoder, in
his time...
For this
reason we
can say that
the
publication
of this
collection
marks a new
era of
Spiritism in
Brazil and
in the whole
continent”.
Bibliography:
Julio Abreu
Filho -
click on Julio
Abreu on
Wikipedia
Herculano
Pires,
Biography - click
here
Biography of
Herculano - click
on this link
Marcus De
Mario lives
in Rio de
Janeiro,
where he
Works in the
Spiritist
Group Seara
de Luz and
Rio de
Janeiro
Radio, the
fraternity
broadcaster.
He is a
writer,
teacher,
speaker and
consultant.
Translation:
Eleni
Frangatos - eleni.moreira@uol.com.br