Gustavo Barroso: Eugenics and authoritarian nationalism

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the presence of eugenic ideas in the constitution of authoritarian nationalist thinking by the intellectual Gustavo Barroso in the period before his accession to fundamentalism. The research was based on newspaper articles from the period between 1909 and 1929, which demonstrated his eugenic vision, especially in Barroso’s proposal of a “Law of Unwanted” in 1916. The research results show that Gustavo Barroso had a clear connection to the eugenic thought, science widely discussed in the period, and that was of great importance for the construction of his integralist thought, which demonstrate views,even more radical, especially about anti-Semitism.