Nationality Brazilian Name Saul Martins | ||
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Born November 1, 1917Januaria ( 1917-11-01 ) Institution Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais Influenced by Auguste Comte, Emile Durkheim, Bronislaw Malinowski, Karl Marx | ||
Saul Alves Martins (November 1, 1917, Januária, Brazil – December 10, 2009 Belo Horizonte) was a Brazilian anthropologist and folklorist, professor of Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG). Formed in Social Sciences, master and doctor in the area and for years devoted himself to the study and teaching of anthropology, with an emphasis on folklore and the tradition of Minas Gerais.
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Thesis
He defended his dissertation with the biography of the bandit Antonio Dó, and his doctoral thesis entitled "Contribution to the scientific study of the craft," both published in book form.
Contributions to anthropology
As a writer attentive to the nuances of popular culture and to the forms of "traditional” sociability set inside of the country-side of Minas Gerais, especially the "rodas de São Gonçalo", Martins left a legacy for the description and systematization forms of cultural expression of Brazil's country-side. Defending a systematic study of these forms of expression, and deeply influenced by the positivism of Auguste Comte and Émile Durkheim, the anthropologist defended the folklore as a "first form" (or, using the durkheimnian jargon, the "elementary form") used in the culture of a society.
His name was given to the "Museum of Craft Saul Alves Martins", located in the city of Vespasiano/Minas Gerais/Brazil, categorized as one of the top five museums of popular culture in Brazil. One should notice that the museum has a collection of a large number of works donated by the anthropologist, the fruit of his research and fieldwork.
Poetry
Martins was also a poet, publishing several books in this genre, as well as contributions to compilations. As an example of his production in this area is worth mentioning the poem "Flores do Campo" (trans: "Flowers of the Field") as one of the ten best of the contemporary sonnets in Minas Gerais, which led to the anthropologist the award received by the Academy of Letters of Minas Gerais in 1951. Here is a fragment of the sonnet:
Besides his work as an anthropologist, he became a colonel and commanded battalions in Belo Horizonte. He is the author of the official anthem of the Military Police of Minas Gerais (PMMG), pointing to his poetic bias.