Andrade, Oswald de, 1890-1954 (1890-1954)
Dates
- Existence: 1890-1954
Biography
Oswald de Andrade was born José Oswald De Sousa Andrade on January 11, 1890, in São Paulo, Brazil. The young Andrade traveled throughout Europe with his family. It was on these trips that he became familiar with the European avant-gardes of the early 20th Century. Although receiving a law degree in 1919, Andrade made it his life mission to introduce modern art to Brazil. In 1922, he and Mário de Andrade (no relation) organized the Week of Modern Art in São Paulo. Three years later, Oswald de Andrade published Pau-Brasil, a manifesto of sorts that called for Brazilians to reject the colonial culture and recognize Brazil's native heritage. Andrade's greatest contribution to Latin American Modernism was the Antropofagia (“Cannibalism”) literary movement. Throughout the 1920s and early 1930s, Andrade's political beliefs became more and more radical, and in 1931, he joined the Communist Party. Although he left the party in 1945, he remained politically active until his death on October 22, 1954.