Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira
Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira was a prominent
Brazilian politician who was
President of Brazil from 1956 to 1961. He was born in Diamantina,
Minas Gerais. His father, Joo Csar de Oliveira , who died when Juscelino was two years old, was a traveling salesman. Juscelino's mother, a schoolteacher named Jlia Kubitschek , was of
Czech descent.
Although trained as a doctor, Kubitschek was elected to the
Minas Gerais State Assembly in 1934. However, with the advent of Getlio Vargas's Estado Novo in 1937, Kubitschek was forced to return to practicing medicine.
Encyclopedia
Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira was a prominent
Brazilian politician who was
President of Brazil from 1956 to 1961. He was born in Diamantina,
Minas Gerais. His father, João César de Oliveira , who died when Juscelino was two years old, was a traveling salesman. Juscelino's mother, a schoolteacher named Júlia Kubitschek , was of
Czech descent.
Although trained as a doctor, Kubitschek was elected to the
Minas Gerais State Assembly in 1934. However, with the advent of
Getúlio Vargas's Estado Novo in 1937, Kubitschek was forced to return to practicing medicine. Nevertheless, he was appointed mayor of
Belo Horizonte in 1940.
He was again elected to the Minas Gerais State Assembly in 1945, and became governor of the state in 1950. In 1955, he ran for president with the slogan "Fifty years of progress in five", and won.
He was sworn in on January 31, 1956 as
President of what was then known as the Republic of the United States of Brazil.
His five year tenure resulted in Brazil progressing by leaps and bounds. Among many projects he managed to complete was
Brasília, the new capital of Brazil, located in the heart of the country. On October 2, 1956, during his first visit to the place chosen for the construction of the new city — a desert highland located in the central part of Brazil — Kubitschek enthusiatically made the following prophesy: "From this central highland, from this lonely place which very soon will be the head office of the main national decisions, I see the future of my country and I can foresee, faithfully, a new dawn for my homeland relying on its destiny." He also completed major road construction, as well as founding Brazil's automotive industry.
The economy boomed, but at some cost. Much of the investment in industry was funded by printing money. His opponents alleged that he had brought "fifty years of inflation in five." Like many other Latin American currencies, the
cruzeiro was repeatedly devalued. The country also went further into debt trying to pay for various ambitious projects, although such debts were very small compared to the tremendous rise of the external debt made by the military during their dictatorship, which started in 1964 with a coup d'état and lasted for 21 years.
Kubitschek was succeeded by
Jânio Quadros in 1961. When the military took power in 1964, Kubitschek's political rights were suspended for 10 years. He went into self-imposed exile and stayed in numerous U.S. and European cities.
He returned to Brazil in 1967 but was killed in a car crash in 1976, near the city of
Resende in the state of
Rio de Janeiro. 350,000 mourners were present at his burial in Brasília. He is now buried in the Memorial JK, which was opened in 1981.
The
Presidente Juscelino Kubitschek International Airport of
Brasília was named after him, and also the luxurious hotel named Kubitschek Plaza located in that city.
In 1980, his daughter Márcia married Cuban-American
ballet star
Fernando Bujones. Márcia Kubitschek was elected to the
National Congress of Brazil in 1987 and served as
lieutenant governor of the
Brazilian Federal District from 1991 to 1994.
See also
Suggested reading
- Alexander, Robert J. Juscelino Kubitschek and the Development of Brazil. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Center for International Studies, 1991. ISBN 0-89680-163-2
- Bojunga, Cláudio. JK: o artista do impossível. Rio de Janeiro: Editora Objetiva, 2001. ISBN 85-7302-407-0
