ANNIBAL THEOPHILO’S MURDER: LITERARY HONOR AND CONFLICTS AMONG WRITERS AT RIO DE JANEIRO

Abstract

On June 19th, 1915, the poet Annibal Theophilo was shot dead by the also writer and congressman Gilberto Amado. The crime aroused instant interest. Besides the taste for spectacular events, especially crimes, that fact was full of mysterious elements. It happened in an elegant place, during the day, it involved two writers and it happened at the end of an elegant social event. All those ingredients made the crime a subject for many articles on the daily press, occupying, for days, the public’s interest. Analyzing some aspects of that spectacular crime, this article argues that this was a crime of honor, literary honor, to be more accurate. The tragic episode involving Annibal Theophilo and Gilberto Amado opened a precious window, from which it is possible to capture not just the social meaning of the social distinction built from the notions of elegance and civility, but also expounded the differences between the writers themselves. Behind the harmony mantle that the men of letters strengthened to weave an extensive set of conflicts and tensions was hidden and became public by the tragic episode analyzed in this article.

Keywords
Literary Honor; writers; Rio de Janeiro; Murder; Literary Conference