Academia Brasileira de Letras
The Academia Brasileira de Letras is a Brazilian literary non-profit society established at the end of the 19th century. The first president, Machado de Assis, declared its foundation on Tuesday, 15 December 1896, with the by-laws being passed on Thursday, 28 January 1897. On Tuesday, 20 July of the same year, the academy started its operation.
Facade of the Brazilian Academy of Letters
Lúcio de Mendonça [pt], founder of the ABL.
The Petit Trianon in Rio de Janeiro, the seat of the academy since 1923.
The writer Fernando Henrique Cardoso, ex-President of Brazil, taking possession as a member of the academy in 2013.
Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, often known by his surnames as Machado de Assis, Machado, or Bruxo do Cosme Velho, was a pioneer Brazilian novelist, poet, playwright and short story writer, widely regarded as the greatest writer of Brazilian literature. In 1897, he founded and became the first President of the Brazilian Academy of Letters. He was multilingual, having taught himself French, English, German and Greek later in life.
Picture by Marc Ferrez, c. 1880
Morro do Livramento. The arrow in the top right corner shows the house where Machado was probably born and spent his childhood.
National Press, c. 1880, where Machado de Assis began his services as typographer and proofreader.
Machado de Assis when he was 25 years old, 1864.
![Lúcio de Mendonça [pt], founder of the ABL.](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Lucio_de_Mendon%C3%A7a_%28Iconogr%C3%A1fico%29.jpg/500px-Lucio_de_Mendon%C3%A7a_%28Iconogr%C3%A1fico%29.jpg)
