Heredity, progress and decay through the medical and eugenic thoughts of Renato Kehl

Author(s)

Tamara Prior

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Medicina (FM/SBD)
• Defense date: 2016-02-18

Examining board members

Andre Mota; Maria Luiza Tucci Carneiro; Francisco Assis de Queiroz

• Advisor: Andre Mota

Abstract

Throughout history the subject of heredity showed up in varied interpretations. The development of life sciences has greater insight into its mechanisms; on the other hand, it becomes indispensable to reflect on theoretical determinisms that appear to fall mainly on the field of Health Sciences. The history of the eugenics is an event that allows important reflections on the past and present. The term \"eugenics\" was coined by Francis Galton in 1883 to name the science of the improvement of the biological heritage of humanity. It should offer theories and methods towards mental and physical perfectibility. Renato Kehl (1889-1974), brazilian physician and pharmacist, was one of the main exponents of Brazilian eugenics, publicist and articulator of eugenic societies formed in the early decades of the twentieth century. Some notions of progress versus decay contained in his works - mostly published between 1917 and 1940 -are treated in this dissertation. Part of the Brazilian eugenics campaign debates about the sterilization of \"unwanted\", about marriage and immigration restrictions and confinement of so-called degenerate. In this context the eugenics movement was presented by its enthusiasts as a solution against the supposedly inevitable and alarming decay that affected the nation (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 13/13005-0 - Comments on the idea of progress in the writings of the physician Renato Kehl
• Grantee: Tamara Prior
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master