Pagu, the Publisher

Intellectual Labor and Political Project in O Homem do Povo (1931)

Abstract

This article analyzes the work of Patrícia Rehder Galvão (1910-1962) at the newspaper O Homem do Povo (1931), emphasizing her role as the initiator and a central figure in the publication's editorial conception. Although the participation of the writer and journalist, commonly known as Pagu, in this newspaper is widely recognized, particularly due to her controversial column "A Mulher do Povo" (The Woman of the People), her involvement in formulating and directing the editorial project remains under-explored in historiography. It is argued here that her role was significantly broader and more strategic than that usually attributed to a mere columnist. Beyond writing "A Mulher do Povo", in which she criticized the São Paulo bourgeoisie and advocated for a project of female emancipation linked to Marxist ideals, Pagu made decisive contributions to the paper by producing illustrations, vignettes, headlines, cartoons, and articles published under various pseudonyms, demonstrating her central importance to the publication's discursive and visual construction. O Homem do Povo was short-lived; it ceased publication after its offices were ransacked by students from the Largo São Francisco Law School who took offense at editorials signed by Oswald de Andrade and Pagu herself, an episode that highlights the newspaper's political engagement within the context of São Paulo at the time. Grounded in the perspective of the social history of culture, this article views journalism as a form of concrete intellectual labor through which Patrícia Galvão actively intervened in the political and cultural debates of her era.