At a certain point in the film, () is advised by (Charles Fricks), one of his best friends, to leave Brazil.
Concerned about the increase in repression after, the businessman had decided to move to England and was trying to convince Paiva to take the same path. But, as we know, the former deputy preferred to stay in Brazil and was killed by security agencies.
Although short, the scene in the film directed by awakens the desire to know more about Gasparian, a central figure in the resistance to . This immersion can be done now, with the release of “Um Homem Chamado Opinião”, written by Márcio Pinheiro.
In the book, the Gaucho author rediscovers Brazil’s recent history and the authoritarianism that suffocates the press, themes present in his publications such as (2022).
Gasparian graduated in engineering at and became a business leader in the spinning and weaving industry. Later, after leaving São Paulo for Rio de Janeiro, he began to command América Fabril, the largest textile company in the country.
At this point, he consolidated a worldview described in the book by Marcus, one of his sons: “Neither socialist nor capitalist, but a nationalist, always with an independent stance”.
This slowed down the businessman’s rise, especially from 1967 onwards, when he took over the Finance portfolio. Ruy Solberg, a lawyer who worked at América Fabril, indicates in his biography the minister’s actions to harm Gasparian.
The businessman then decided to leave the company and move with his family to London, where he started teaching. The Gasparians returned to Brazil in 1972, a key moment because the main passages of the biography take place from then on. This is Gasparian’s phase as an editor.
“Without the crazy leftist and sectarian rancidity of many other alternative weeklies of the time, Opinião was a sober newspaper like Fernando Gasparian, its owner. It confronted the dictatorship in a serious and incisive way, without mockery or irony”, writes Pinheiro about the newspaper launched in November 1972.
He hired as editor-in-chief, who had worked at Veja and Realidade. Both assembled a team with notable journalists, such as , and . Close to intellectuals, Gasparian had frequent collaboration with , and , among dozens of others.
In the first months, the restrictions imposed by the government were occasional. In April 1973, however, the situation worsened when the weekly newspaper covered the death of. The texts went little beyond the official version, which cited being run over when, in fact, the student had been murdered.
Even so, the newspaper’s initiative was seen as insubordination – in that case, the military dictated, Opinião should have remained silent. From this episode onwards, all texts had to be evaluated by the Federal Police before being sent to the printer.
Soon after, the order was not complied with, which led to Gasparian, Pereira and Tárik being detained for a few hours.
Censorship grew, and so did the editor’s indignation. He tried to escape the cuts in a variety of ways, from appealing to the STF to denouncing it in the foreign press. It was of little use. When , who had worked at Opinião, was killed at DOI-Codi, the newspaper was prohibited from mentioning the fact. Even the official version was vetoed.
After four and a half years, taking the weekly newspaper forward had become unfeasible. Of the more than 10,500 pages written by contributors, only 5,796 reached readers, just over 50%, says the biographer.
A year after launching Opinião, Gasparian brought Argumento magazine to newsstands, a project with editorial and graphic refinement. Directed by, it brought together, above all, contributions from intellectuals.
In the second issue, however, the PF began to collect the copies. As the biographer recalls, FHC and , collaborators at Argumento, appealed to regime ministers so that the magazine could survive. In vain, it only lasted four issues.
Amid the difficulties of Opinião and Argumento, Gasparian invested in another project, the publisher Paz e Terra, which published authors such as and . , by , was his main bestseller.
In 1978, Gasparian and his wife, Dalva, opened the Argumento bookstore in São Paulo. A year later, the Rio unit was born, which still exists today.
In the following decades, he became involved in the campaign for Diretas, was elected constituent deputy for the PMDB and supported the candidacy of his friend FHC for the Presidency.
The preface is signed by the writer and columnist of Sheetson of Rubens Paiva. “His legacy is immense. His work is priceless”, he writes about his uncle Fernando, as he refers to Gasparian.
