Samuel Nunes Magalhães (photo), is a retired accountant in the Brazilian capital, Brasília, with an MBA and long experience in the banking sector. He is an active member of the Brazilian Spiritist Federation, where he works as a volunteer in the Memory of Spiritism and Social Assistance Departments. In this interview, he speaks about his research on the history of the French physiologist, Charles Richet, and the Brazilian medium, Anna Prado.

How did you become a Spiritist? 

Since the age of seven, I heard and saw Spirits quite often. As a teenager in the city of Fortaleza, I was admitted to psychiatric clinics several times. What I didn’t know then was that I was under the influence of negative Spirits and was going through a process known as spiritual attachment or obsession. I had no knowledge of mediumship. Ten years after I was sent to a clinic for the first time, I found Spiritism. The Gospel According to Spiritism was the first book I read. And I did it in a single day, in the beginning of the 1980s. My mental balance was immediately restored and I have carried on since then with my work in Spiritism, our beloved and blessed Teachings.  

Where does your interest for historic research come from?

I never considered entering this field until I was invited by my good friend Luciano Pinheiro Klein Filho, a researcher and historian from the state of Ceará, to work on a book called Bezerra de Menezes, Fatos e Documentos (Facts and Documents). The book was published in 2000 to mark the 100^th anniversary of the death of Bezerra de Menezes. After that, encouraged again by Luciano Klein, I did other research projects, which turned into articles or books about the history of Spiritism.

You are the author of two important history books published by the Brazilian Spiritist Federation, FEB. One is about Anna Prado and the other one, about the life of Charles Richet. Why did you choose those two figures?

I lived in Brazil’s Amazon region for four years, in the state of Amazonas. One day I was doing some research focusing on the history of Spiritism in the Amazon and found a book by Genesino Braga that mentioned Richet, the illustrious Parisian physiologist, who studied . According to Braga, a local journalist, Richet did visit Brazil and spent more time in the state of Amazonas than anywhere else in the country. That was between the end of 1908 and beginning of 1909. When I found that out, undoubtedly inspired by the Spiritual Benefactors, I decided to proceed with the research and that’s how I began writing the book, Charles Richet, o Apóstolo da Ciência e o Espiritismo (Charles Richet, the Apostle of Science and Spiritism).

As for Anna Prado, the great medium from Amazonas, it was Luciano Klein, again, who suggested that I research her life. I began at the Amazonas Public Library and went there for research at least once a week. Then I went in search of more personal information with the church, the local government and I travelled to the cities of Paritins and Belém, which is the capital of the neighbouring state of Pará. I then travelled to Rio and I was given access to the archives of Frederico Figner, one of the great pioneers of Spiritism in Brazil. We must thank his grand-daughter, Mart Prochnik, for her generosity. His archive had precious family photos and a wax glove, which was produced from ectoplasm by the Spirit, Rachel Figner, in one of Anna Prado’s sessions. All that material and a picture of the wax object are in the book, Anna Prado, a Mulher que Falava com os Mortos (Anna Prado, the Woman who Spoke with the Dead).

Is there a link between the lives of Prado and Richet?

Anna Prado was the only Brazilian medium who took part in what is usually referred to as the period of scientific investigations of Spiritism. Thanks to the unusual phenomena produced by her amazing mediumship, she had her name and achievements mentioned in many publications abroad, such as the magazine of the International Institute of Metaphysics, which had Charles Richet as one of its founders. Gabriel Delanne also gave special attention to the phenomena produced through her mediumship in his book, Reincarnation.

What strikes you the most about the life and work of Anna Prado?

It is the fact that she produced unique phenomena as a medium. She once managed to germinate seeds of eucalyptus in only 20 minutes, with the help of a Spirit in a materialised body. That was one of many mediumistic phenomena she produced. I believe her capabilities as a medium were unsurmountable in many aspects and certainly comparable to those of Eusápia Paladino, Linda Gazera, Florence Cook and Daniel D Home.

Apart from her amazing mediumship, what really strikes me is her personal struggles. She had, it must be said, the support of her husband, relatives and friends. But she was the victim of many attacks and slander, as she challenged the prevailing beliefs of the society in her days. Women were not expected to do much beyond their domestic duties. Not to mention the huge prejudice directed at the time towards all of those who embraced Spiritism.

How about Richet?

I would highlight the scientific rigour of Charles Richet and the fact that he took the Spiritist phenomena into the academic world, to the sciences.

Charles Richet was not only an amazing intelligence, but also an altruistic soul. He was a good man. Humberto de Campos has revealed, through the mediumship of Chico Xavier, that when Charles Richet passed away he was welcomed in the Spirit World by Léon Denis, Gabriel Delanne and Camille Flammarion. And he was able to hear the voice of Christ himself, speaking to him with a great deal of love.