To the eleven days of august, is celebrated in Brazil the Lawyer's Day. The choice of this date refers to the day when, in 1827, the first two Law faculties in Brazil were established, namely: the Largo de São Francisco Law School, in São Paulo, and the Olinda Law School, in Pernambuco – which was transferred to the city of Recife in 1854. Thus, the commemoration of Lawyer's Day in Brazil is, rather, a celebration of the beginning of the teaching of legal subjects on Brazilian soil.
Unlike other Latin American countries, which, since their first century of colonization, had the installation of universities in its territories, Brazil, until the Empire phase, had not received any installation of an institution official educational. With the exception of the teaching system carried out by the Jesuits, the first faculties properly said to be built in Brazil were those of São Paulo and Olinda, five years after the independence of the parents.
More than training law degrees – a practice that became a true “epidemic” in the 19th century (all children from wealthy families were for the Law faculties) –, the faculties of Olinda and São Paulo became the first centers for the training of intellectuals, in the most broad term. It was from the law schools that names such as
CastroAlves, GonçalvesDays,JoaquimNabuco,bridgesinMiranda,SilvioRomero,tobiasBarreto and many others.Until the 1930s (when the University of São Paulo was created), all sociological, anthropological thinking, legal, historical and all cultural and political criticism (exposed in journalistic vehicles) was derived from bachelors in Right. Thus, the first law teaching centers were also schools of thought, where they were discussed ideas such as republicanism, abolitionism, liberalism, conservatism, Darwinism social etc.
A notable example was the Recife School, led by Tobias Barreto, in the second half of the 19th century. At that time, the Faculty of Law of Olinda had already moved to Recife, and Barreto was notable for spreading the thought of several German-speaking philosophers in Brazil, developing a very particular legal and sociological thought for the standards of the time.
In this sense, the 19th century law schools were of crucial importance for the formation of “Brazilian intelligence”.
By Me. Cláudio Fernandes
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/datas-comemorativas/dia-advogado.htm