The article presents the transcription of a class given by Brazilian educator Hortênsia Hurpia de Hollanda entitled: "Educação sanitária na profilaxia das endemias rurais" [Sanitary education in the prophylaxis of rural epidemics], in a refresher course on rural epidemics and included in the Anais da Faculdade Fluminense de Medicina in December 1956. The annotated publication of the manuscript seeks to prove the pioneering efforts of Hollanda, whose work has been seldom investigated, considering the dimension of her role in the area of health education in Brazil. Sensitivity to social problems, the importance of the population's participation and an experimental attitude are some of the aspects presented in the educator's text, revealing an advanced theoretical grounding for her times and an original and pioneering practice that remains to this day as an ideal to be achieved.
public health; health education; communitarian actions; Brazil