Federico Brito Figueroa (2 November 1921 — 28 April 2000) was a renowned
VenezuelanVenezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It is a continental mainland with numerous islands located off its coastline in the Caribbean Sea...
Marxist
historianAn historian is an individual who studies and writes about history, and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all events in time...
and anthropologist.
Born in La Victoria in Venezuela, Brito was a member of Venezuela's National Democratic Party (
Partido Democrático Nacional — PDN, which later renamed Acción Democrática) in 1936. Brito later, after profound schisms appeared in the Venezuelan left, joined the Venezuelan Communist Party (Partido Comunista de Venezuela — PCV), together with Domingo Maza Zavala and
Luis MiquilenaLuis Manuel Miquilena Hernández is a Venezuelan politician. He was born on July 29, 1919 in Santa Ana de Coro, Falcón State. He was the Venezuelan Minister of Interior and Justice from 2001 to 2002, when he resigned.-First political career:...
.
In 1946 Brito entered the Instituto Pedagógico Nacional (National Teaching Institute) in order to obtain the title of professor of social sciences. Brito later travelled to
MéxicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. There, he studied in the Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia (National School of Anthropology and History). Along with Wenceslao Roces and François Chavalier, Brito graduated with a degree in
ethnologyEthnology is the branch of anthropology that compares and analyzes the origins, distribution, technology, religion, language, and social structure of the ethnic, racial, and/or national divisions of humanity.-Scientific Discipline:Compared to ethnography, the study of single groups through direct...
and
anthropologyAnthropology is the study of humanity. Anthropology has origins in the natural sciences, the humanities social sciences. The term "anthropology", , is from the Greek , anthrōpos, "human", and -λογία, -logia, "discourse" or "study", and was first used by François Péron when discussing his encounters...
. Brito returned to Venezuela in 1959, after
Marcos Pérez JiménezMarcos Evangelista Pérez Jiménez was a soldier and President of Venezuela from 1952 to 1958.-Career:...
's toppling, and began studies at the Universidad Central de Venezuela and was licensed as a historian and obtained his doctorate in anthropology. Brito's doctoral thesis was the renowned and influential work
La estructura económica de Venezuela colonial (The Economic Structure of Colonial Venezuela), which he wrote in 1963 and published in 1978.
Key points of his works included the elucidation of
slaverySlavery is a system in which people are the property of others. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand wages...
, the study of Venezuelan "Federal War" general
Ezequiel ZamoraEzequiel Zamora was a Venezuelan soldier and leader of the Federalists in the Federal War of 1859-1863. His life was marked by the romanticism that characterized liberals of the time....
, and a critical and probing analysis of the socioeconomic underpinnings of both
colonialismColonialism is the building and maintaining of colonies in one territory by people based elsewhere. It can also take the form of subjugation of a minority culture by a majority culture, both of whom exist in the same location...
and
neocolonialismNeocolonialism is a term used by post-colonial critics of developed countries' involvement in the developing world. Writings within the theoretical framework of neocolonialism argue that existing or past international economic arrangements created by former colonial powers were or are used to...
. Brito's works and theories strongly influenced the thinking of current Venezuelan president
Hugo ChávezHugo Rafael Chávez Frías is the President of Venezuela. As the leader of the Bolivarian Revolution, Chávez promotes a political doctrine of participatory democracy, socialism and Latin American and Caribbean cooperation...
. Brito died in
CaracasCaracas , officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela. It is located in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range . The valley's temperatures are springlike. Terrain...
on 28 April 2000.
Works
- Ezequiel Zamora. Un capitulo de la historia nacional, Caracas, 1951
- Liberacion de los esclavos, Caracas, 1951
- Venezuela, siglo XX, 1967
- La estructura económica de Venezuela colonial, Caracas, 1978
- Tiempo de Ezequiel Zamora, Caracas, 1981
- El problema tierra y esclavos en la historia de Venezuela, Caracas, 1982
- Historia económica y social de Venezuela: Una estructura para su estudio, Caracas, 1979/1987