Raul Pompeia was a Brazilian writer belonging to the realist and naturalist movement. In his life trajectory, he was a journalist, short story writer, columnist, novelist and orator.
His most relevant work and one of the most important in realism is “the athenaeum”, published in 1888.
Raul Pompeia was one of the greatest representatives of realism in Brazil, alongside Machado de Assis and Aluísio de Azevedo.
Biography of Raul Pompeia
Raul d'Ávila Pompeia was born in Angra dos Reis (RJ) on April 12, 1863. He lived in his hometown until he was 10 years old, when his family decided to move to the capital.
He was born into a family that had good financial conditions. His father, Antônio D'Ávila Pompeia, was a lawyer.
When he arrived in Rio de Janeiro he was enrolled in a rigid boarding school, called “Colégio Abílio”. From an early age his penchant for literature was notorious.
In high school, I wrote for the newspaper that circulated internally: “the torch”. However, his critical comments led him to be transferred to another institution. He therefore joined the famous Colégio Imperial Dom Pedro II.
There, he further developed his gifts for the arts and published his first novel in 1880, entitled “A Tragedy in the Amazon”.
Later, he moved to São Paulo to study law at Faculdade do Largo de São Francisco.
At that time, he acted in the abolitionist and republican movements. In 1882, he published the work with a strong anti-monarchist tendency: “Crown Jewels”.
He ended up finishing his law course in Recife, but he never practiced the profession. When he returns from Recife, he goes to be a journalist.
He wrote several reviews, chronicles, short stories and serials. In addition, he was professor of mythology at the National School of Fine Arts; and he was even appointed Director of the National Library in 1894.
But he was removed from office after being accused of protesting during the funeral of Floriano Peixoto. The protest was against the president of the Republic, who at the time was Prudente de Moraes.
His critical temperament generated controversy and several problems in his personal life. So some of his friends turned away from him.
The controversy between him and the Parnassian poet deserves to be highlighted. olavo bilac.
That's because Pompeii published a cartoon entitled “Brazil crucified between two thieves” (in reference to Portugal and England) which displeased many people, including Bilac.
In response, the Parnassian writer published an article in the newspaper attacking Raul's position.
Victim of depression, he committed suicide in Rio de Janeiro on December 25, 1895. He died at age 32, with a gunshot wound to the heart.
Works by Raul Pompeia
Among his main works, the following stand out:
- A Tragedy in the Amazon (1880)
- The Fall of Government (1880)
- Microscopic (1881)
- Songs without Metro (1881)
- The Crown Jewels (1882)
- The Athenaeum (1888)
Characteristics of the works
The main features of Raul Pompeia's works are:
- rich vocabulary
- Objective and impersonal language
- Long and detailed narratives
- Many objective descriptions
- Psychological traits of the characters
the athenaeum
the athenaeum is the most emblematic work of Raul Pompeia. It was published in 1888 in the Gazeta de Notícias in the form of serials.
It is an autobiographical novel narrated in the first person with the subtitle “Chronicle of homesickness”.
To write this work, the writer was inspired by the years he was enrolled in boarding school. The novel tells the story of Sergio during his time at the boarding school called Ateneu.
Know more about:
- Realism in Brazil
- realism and naturalism
- Authors of Brazilian Realism
- Characteristics of Realism
- Realistic Prose
