Post-mortem chronicle: the life and work of Primitivo Moacyr through the memory of Afonso D’Escragnolle Taunay

ABSTRACT This paper aims to reflect on the funeral chronicle of Afonso D’Escragnolle Taunay on Primitivo Moacyr, published in October 1942 in Jornal do Commercio. From the conditions and hypothesis inspired by the reading, this work problematizes the text as an historical object, representing a product, a “place of memory,” and a printed object restricted to Brazilian material culture. Thus, it corroborates to the understanding of the writing-memory association, dialoguing with the context in which it circulated and was read, acting as a speech of truth and being able to modify, historically, the references about the past. The chronicle helps understanding the social network, the values instilled in the context, and what was known and thought about the protagonist. Such writing sheds light on Moacyr’s place as an intellectual in the history of education in Brazil.