EncyclopediaFreyre, Gilberto
Freyre, Gilberto (jēlber'tOO frā'ru) [key], 1900–1987, Brazilian sociologist and anthropologist, grad. Baylor Univ., 1920, M.A. Columbia, 1922. He taught, traveled, and gave lectures in many countries, especially in the United States. For opposition to the government he was briefly imprisoned in 1934. He established a worldwide reputation as a social historian. His linked masterpieces, Casa grande e senzala (5th ed. 1946; tr. The Masters and the Slaves, rev. ed. 1956), and Sobrados e mucambos (tr. The Mansions and the Shanties, 1936), are an anthropological and psychological study of Brazilian society. Among his many other works are two books written in English, Brazil: An Interpretation (1945) and New World in the Tropics (1959).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
