He has coffee with his wife, , and his two teenage daughters, Maria Estela and Márcia, in a refined environment. It seems like a banal scene to today’s eyes, but it was anything but trivial at the time, the second half of the 1950s, when JK from Minas Gerais was in charge of the Presidency of the Republic.
Firstly, because it was not common in Brazil to portray presidents in home scenes – Juscelino felt comfortable in front of the lens in the most varied situations. And everything became easier when behind the camera was the one who innovated photojournalism in the country.
Furthermore, the image is curious because of the location they are in. Before it was inaugurated by JK himself in April 1960, the capital was Rio de Janeiro, and the presidential palace, the .
But the Kubitschek family lived in Palácio das Laranjeiras, as the superstitious Juscelino did not want them to live in Catete, where he had killed himself the previous decade.
The new “Juscelino Kubitschek – a Photobiography” presents the political leader in action as federal deputy, mayor of, governor of Minas Gerais, president and senator. However, some of the most revealing images are those of a more intimate sphere, such as father and husband.
And also as a son. As he lost his father before turning two years old, Juscelino had a single major family reference, his mother, Júlia Kubitschek, a primary school teacher in Diamantina (MG), where he was born. JK used to say that he had inherited his organizational skills from his mother, who was of Czech descent.
“It was Dona Júlia who formed Juscelino, who was devoted to his mother”, says Fabio Chateaubriand, creator and curator of the book, which will be launched this Tuesday (17), in São Paulo.
The first photobiography dedicated to the Minas Gerais politician, the work brings together 287 images, a selection made from more than 50 thousand researched by Chateaubriand and his team.
These are photos collected from public institutions, such as the National Archives, and personal collections, such as those of Maria Estela Kubitschek Lopes, one of Juscelino’s daughters.
The book is part of a broader project, produced by the Padre Anchieta Foundation, which runs the . The initiative also includes the series, and an exhibition, among other actions.
Accustomed to calculations and aware of his power, Juscelino was rarely seen in public demonstrating any form of vulnerability.
The photobiography exposes at least one of these moments. Amid the celebrations for the inauguration of Brasília, the president participates in a mass and cries profusely, as shown in an image from the newspaper Última Hora.
“JK’s opponents, such as , were very critical of the construction of Brasília. At that moment, it collapsed, letting what was trapped overflow”, says Chateaubriand.
According to the organizer of the work, most of the photos are little known or unpublished. One of them, from the 1970s, shows JK in shorts on Copacabana beach alongside his great friend, who created it and, in the following decade, founded the TV show of the same name.
There are rare images of Juscelino in which he does not appear wearing a suit and tie. The unusual record is part of the personal collection of Anna Bentes Bloch, the businessman’s widow.
At that time, Juscelino lived in Rio and was away from day-to-day politics. He was seen as persona non grata by the leadership of the military regime. He died in 1976 in a car accident on Via Dutra.
With 304 large pages, this first version of the photobiography is aimed, above all, at scholars of JK’s career and collectors. It costs R$450. In April 2025, a compact edition is scheduled to be launched, which should cost around R$80 and be distributed to public libraries.
In March next year, Casa Kubitschek, in the Pampulha complex, in Belo Horizonte, will open the “JK Exhibition”, with around a hundred photos, as well as objects. The exhibition will also be curated by Chateaubriand.
