Background
José Pereira da Graça Aranha was born on June 21, 1868, in São Luís. He was the son of journalist Temístocles da Silva Maciel Aranha and Maria da Glória da Graça.
José Pereira da Graça Aranha was born on June 21, 1868, in São Luís. He was the son of journalist Temístocles da Silva Maciel Aranha and Maria da Glória da Graça.
Graça Aranha studied law.
Before establishing himself as an author, Aranha worked as a judge and a public prosecutor. He later joined the Brazilian foreign service, where his duties included negotiating borders with the countries adjacent to Brazil.
After traveling a great deal during his years with the foreign service, Aranha settled in Brazil in 1920. By that time, he had written Cunaa.
Aranha later resigned from the Academy in a move that helped champion modem literature in Brazil. According to Encyclopedia of World Literature contributor Gregory McNab, Aranha’s “pro-vanguardist postures helped bring the spirit of modernism to Brazilian culture and translate it into Brazilian terms.”
During the 1920s, Aranha battled the conservative Brazilian Academy of Letters, which had consistently resisted recognizing works by the new wave of avant garde writers. A member of the Academy, he gave a speech to the organization in 1924. This speech, published as 0 espirito moderno, criticizes the Brazilian Academy of Letters for its intransigence and lack of vision.
From 1897 to 1924, Graça Aranha was a member of Academy of Letters.