Celso Furtado (Brazil, 1920-2004)
BIOGRAPHY
Economist
A reference in the field of development economics, Celso Furtado believed industrialization and economic diversification were key to the transformation of Latin American economies.
Celso Furtado served in the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America (1949-1957), before assuming leadership positions within Brazil. His ideas informed the economic modernization program of President Juscelino Kubitschek (1956-1960). From 1959 to 1964, Furtado led the Development Superintendency of the Northeast (SUDENE), a new agency for implementing comprehensive social and economic reforms in the vast impoverished region. Forced into exile by the military regime (1964-1985), he turned to academia, holding appointments at prestigious institutions in Europe and the United States. In 1985, Furtado returned to public service in Brazil, first as ambassador to the European Union, and later as Minister of Culture (1986-1988). Elected to the Brazilian Academy of Letters, Celso Furtado was a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Economics.
CHRONOLOGY
View a chronology of Celso Furtado's life.
FOUNDATION AND INSTITUTIONAL WEBSITES
Centro Internacional Celso Furtado de Políticas para o Desenvolvimento
SELECTED WORKS BY CELSO FURTADO AT IU BLOOMINGTON LIBRARIES
Works by Celso Furtado
Furtado, Celso. Um projeto para o Brasil. Rio de Janeiro: Ed. Saga, 1968.
Furtado, Celso. Formação econômica da América Latina. Rio de Janeiro, Lia, 1969.
Works by Celso Furtado in English
More works by Celso Furtado available at IU Bloomington Libraries.
Criticism of Celso Furtado's work
Bolaño. César Ricardo Siqueira. O conceito de cultura em Celso Furtado. Salvador: Edufba, 2015.
More works on Celso Furtado available at IU Bloomington Libraries.
ONLINE AUDIO AND VISUAL RECORDINGS
Documentaries
Coffee: A Sackful of Power / directed by Alexander Valenti (1999). [Celso Furtado and Nobel Peace Prize winner Oscar Arias analyze the market forces that affect coffee prices]. Resource available to authorized IU Bloomington users (on or off campus).
Speeches
Depoimento de Celso Furtado aos estudantes de economia (1997). [Message to students who participated in the XXIV Meeting of Economics Students, held at Unicamp's Institute of Economics, July 1997].
Interviews
Roda Viva – TV Cultura | Especial Celso Furtado | 25/07/2020.
Vox Populi - Celso Furtado (1983).
ONLINE EXIBITIONS AND TRIBUTES
Celso Furtado: Vocação Nordeste – 1958-1964
Celso Furtado: Pensamento, ação, legado (2014) [A six-program series honoring Celso Furtado hosted by the School of Law at the University of São Paulo.]
Mestre Furtado: um regionalista além dos sertões [TV Assembleia, Assembleia Legislativa da Paraíba, 2020].
RELATED RESOURCES
Celso Furtado. Academia Brasileira de Letras (ABL)
ECLAC Inaugurates the Raúl Prebisch Chair (2001)