Names the main square of Alegrete, inside. In the midst of this public space, there is a bust of the man who ruled the country in two periods, from 1930 to 1945 and after 1951 to 1954.
At the top, at the other end of the map, in Boa Vista, capital of, one of the main avenues also bears the name of Getúlio, killed 71 years ago, on August 24, 1954.
Survey conducted by Sheet From IBGE data (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) It shows that the gaucho leader is the most honored in public places considering those who ruled Brazil in the republican period. There are 2,593 mentions in streets, avenues, malls, squares, platters and other public spaces in the five regions of the country.
Of the 5,565 municipalities in Brazil, 35% have at least one street with the name of Getúlio.
“Publicities are places of memory, which perpetuate the imagination of the country. They have an important meaning from the point of view of the history of Brazilian politics,” says, a retired professor of history of Brazil at the Fluminense Federal University (UFF).
In general, the names of streets and other public spaces within the limits of a municipality are decided by the City Council. In 2019, however, the (Supreme Federal Court) also recognized the mayor’s competence for the denomination of public places. In the case of federal and state highways, the task is mainly on the deputies of the two spheres, but the initiative can also start from the executive.
The population may organize themselves to suggest names or changes in names, but the final decision always goes through political representatives.
Getúlio’s ostensive presence in signs around the country can be associated with his strength as a party leadership, with unparalleled influence at the time on deputies and councilors.
From 1945 to 1965, when he extinguished Pluripartisanism, the three most competitive subtitles in the country were PSD (Social Democratic Party), (Brazilian Labor Party) and UDN (National Democratic Union). Getúlio was primarily responsible for the founding of the PTB and key figure in the joints that led to the emergence of the PSD.
It was the alliance of these two acronyms that supported their last period in power and also the next government, from (1956-1961), not by chance the second most remembered name in the country’s public spaces.
“I believe that a large part of these public places received the name of Getúlio during the 1940s and 1950s. It is mainly from the 1940s that he projects himself as the great name of national politics and, practically, has no competitors,” says Castro Gomes, author of books such as “Getulism and Work”, in partnership with Maria Celina D´Araújo.
An example is President Vargas, one of the main avenues of Rio de Janeiro, then capital in the country. It was inaugurated in 1944.
For, the main biographer of the politician born in São Borja (RS), two factors are preponderant for such Getúlio presence in the plates of public spaces. “No one has provoked so many transformations in Brazil’s life like him. The country of before Getúlio and what comes later is two completely different Brasis, for good and evil.”
Moreover, according to him, Getúlio “remains alive in this collective memory because to this day the main guidelines of political, economic and social discussions pass it. See. Talk about oil refers to the Vargas era. If the theme is flexibility of labor legislation, we also return to that period.”
Castro Gomes emphasizes the package of social achievements, with the front, as one of the reasons for Getúlio’s leadership in this regard. But not only.
For the historian, the fact that he killed himself contributed a lot to what she treats as “memorial construction”. Initially called on November 15, the Alegrete Square – Lembada in the first paragraph – earned the name of the gaucho leader just in the year of suicide, 1954.
The sociologist also emphasizes the “martyr brand” and remembers the impact. “I was studying at a radically anti -getalist nuns in Rio de Janeiro. Even this school, like everyone else, canceled classes on his death day. It was a commotion.”
The existence of almost 2,600 places keeps Getúlio’s legacy alive, including the authoritarianism of the. During this period, from 1937 to 1945, he exercised his powers as a dictator.
In May this year, the decision based on the public action filed by the Vladimir Herzog Institute in conjunction with the Public Defender’s Office of the Union.
The measure leads to doubt: Why are there no initiatives to get the name of Getúlio from squares and avenues considering that he was ahead of the repressive apparatus of the Estado Novo?
According to Castro Gomes, “the memorial construction obscured this point,” referring to the deaths and persecution of opponents in that phase. In the imagination of the population, in her view, the concern to protect the rights conquered in the Vargas era eventually speaking louder.
In addition, according to the historian, Getúlio benefited from a “sophisticated advertising machine” and, not least, knew how to renew his image by being elected president in 1950, five years after the end of the authoritarian phase.
A curiosity surfaces when data is divided by federation units. Although it is the most populous state in the country at least since the 1940s, São Paulo has not occupied the leadership in a total number of public places or in number of municipalities with at least one street with the name of Getúlio.
In total public places, it is fourth, behind Minas Gerais, Bahia and Rio Grande do Sul. Already in number of municipalities with at least one street, is among the last, in 21st position.
For experts, this mismatch can be understood by, one of the greatest armed clashes of the 20th century in Brazil. The conflict opposed two great forces: the Paulistas on one side and the federal forces commanded by Getúlio on the other.
“The fact is that 1932 left many sequelae in this relationship of the state of São Paulo with the memory of Getúlio,” says Lira.
METHODOLOGY
The report used the IBGE public places base, updated to the 2022 Census, to reach all unique address names in Brazil through the Python programming language. From the result, the crossing was crossed with the list of all presidents who held the position, even interim or joint.
In addition to the exact correspondences with each full name, variations of spelling and compositions with the position were also filtered. In the case of the first president of the dictatorship, for example, they were considered both “Humberto de Alencar Castello Branco” and variations such as “President Castello Branco”, “Marechal Castello Branco” or “Humberto Castelo Branco”.
Cases of more common names that appear without the title of president have been excluded to discard possible homonyms when the check was not possible. In cases such as “”, although several variations of spelling have been considered, some public places may have been out due to typing errors at the base.
Because IBGE data is up to date until 2022, some names of public places may have changed.
