The present study investigates the influence of the XIXth century German and French thought on the establishment of the universities of São Paulo (USP) and Rio de Janeiro (URJ), in Brazil. This research also shows how this influence remains during the first decades of the XXth century lasting until the 50's. In order to do that we related specific traits of the German conception with the USP conception and emphasized the definition od university and its organization. The same methodology was applied to analyse the napoleonic model´s influence upon the university of Rio de Janeiro. Finally we verify the growing and dominant influence of the North-American model in the cases above mentionned, mainly after the 60's. As a result we concluded that the North-American model gradually replaced the French and German models.
universities; conceptions; influences; University of São Paulo; University of Rio de Janeiro