ABSTRACT
This article examines the relationship between the Brazilian Historic and Geographic Institute (IHGB) and the first government of Getúlio Vargas (1930-1945), focusing especially on the title of Honorary President that the institution granted to Vargas. In addition, several members of his cabinet attended and joined the institution’s membership during that period, and, in turn, members of the IHGB occupied important positions in the government, which configured networks of sociability among these individuals. We conclude that Getúlio Vargas, by honoring the IHGB – a century-old and prestigious institution –, was honored by it in return, and, above all, politically legitimized. Cultural History, specially the scholarship addressing the relationship between intellectuals and power, is our theoretical point of reference, and our main source is the Revista do Instituto Histórico e Geográfico Brasileiro (RIHGB), the official journal of the institution that recorded both its intellectual production and its internal activities.
Keywords
Instituto Histórico e Geográfico Brasileiro; IHGB; Getúlio Vargas; History of Brazil; Republican Brazil