The portrait of a nation: Edgard Roquette-Pinto's study on the Brazilian 'anthropological types', 1910-1920

• Main Author: Vanderlei Sebastião de Souza
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi 2012-12-01
• Series: Boletim do Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi. Ciências Humanas
• Subjects: Museu Nacional do Rio de Janeiro; History of Anthropology; Physical anthropology; Racial classification; Nation; National identity
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1981-81222012000300003&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=pt

The article analyses the studies carried out by the anthropologist Edgard Roquette-Pinto (1884-1954) on the classification of 'anthropological types' of Brazil. Affiliated to the Museu Nacional, in Rio de Janeiro, the anthropologist collected data on the anatomical, physiological and psychological characteristics of the Brazilian population in the early decades of the 20th century. The racial classification put forward by Roquette-Pinto resulted not only from the ongoing national intellectual context, but also resulted from technical and theoretical influences from abroad, in particular from Germany and the United States. The anthropologist's goal was to produce an 'anthropological portrait' of Brazil. His research aimed at revealing the racial characteristics involved in the formation of the nation, as well as evaluating the biological viability of the population, especially the 'mixed race types'.