Carlos Torres Gonçalves and the altruistic sex: the feminine conversion to the Religion of Humanity in Porto Alegre in the early 20th century

• Autor(a) principal: Pezat, Paulo Ricardo
• Data de Publicação: 2007
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Anos 90 (Online)
• Texto Completo: https://seer.ufrgs.br/index.php/anos90/article/view/5404
• topic: Cartas; Positivismo; Sexualidade; Letters; Positivism; Sexuality

The civil engineer Carlos Torres Gonçalves (1875-1974) was one of the most important religious positivists of Rio Grande do Sul and of Brazil during the 20th century, and was the main responsible for the construction of the Positivist Chapel of Porto Alegre. In his experience as an advertiser of the Positivist Church of Brazil and as a public servant of the State Office of Public Construction – in which he was responsible for the implementation of land policies in Rio Grande do Sul, during two decades – Torres Gonçalves aimed at guiding his actions in accordance with the rules that Auguste Comte had established under the “angelic inspiration” of Clotilde de Vaux. However, it was not only in the public scenario that Torres Gonçalves attempted to apply the positivist rules. In his private life as well he made such effort, experiencing positivism in a visceral way. For this, it was fundamental to constitute a positivist family, which he consolidated with the conversions of his three “guardian angels”, namely his fiancée and later wife, Dagmar, his daughter Sofia Mariana and his mother, Virginia. Some letters exchanged among the members of the Torres Gonçalves family during the three first decades in the 20th century allow us to have a brief look at this private universe.