An investigation of the career of one of the "founding mothers" of the social sciences in Rio de Janeiro, Marina de Vasconcellos, successor of Arthur Ramos, is one way of understanding how anthropology was established in Rio de Janeiro. Conflicts and alliances, continuities and discontinuities, lie behind the pioneering Brazilian Society of Anthropology and Ethnology and the Institute of Social Sciences, both at Faculdade Nacional de Filosofia. Marina de Vasconcellos' professional life bore the marks of the clash between different schools of thought regarding anthropology at a time when university courses were being introduced. As a professor, she was committed to educating new professionals, and in 1968, she was steadfast in the struggle for university autonomy. The study leads to a reflection upon the criteria for success in academia, countering the view that this depends entirely on the publication of books and articles.
Marina de Vasconcellos; Faculdade Nacional de Filosofia; Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Sociais; history of social sciences; history of anthropology
