ENTRE A MEDICINA E A ANTROPOLOGIA: A ATUAÇÃO DE ARTHUR LOBO DA SILVA COMO MÉDICO DO EXÉRCITO BRASILEIRO NAS PRIMEIRAS DÉCADAS DO SÉCULO XX

Abstract

The objective of this research is to analyze the work of the physician and hygienist of the Brazilian Army Arthur Lobo da Silva, as a producer and one of the disseminators of the scientific knowledge of the health area of this institution, between the years of 1920 to 1940. Likewise, this work Seeks to understand how venereal diseases and anthropology have been linked to the Brazilian Army Health Service in this period. From the discussions with other anthropologists, including Edgard Roquette-Pinto, we situate the anthropometric researches of Arthur Lobo in the debate on national construction and the creation of Brazilian racial types. The participation of Arthur Lobo da Silva in these fields was materialized in several publications such as newspapers, periodicals, among others. These works served as a basic component for the analysis of this work. It should be noted that the author's ideas on hygiene, health, anthropology and the role of the Army allowed us to understand his representation of the nation and what this author believed to be the role of the Brazilian State in the period. In exposing such ideas and positions, Arthur Lobo da Silva was inserted in the debate with other Brazilian intellectuals, regarding the health problems of the country, which made it impossible in the period to create a "nation" and a "Brazilian people." The insertion of the military in this discussion legitimized the role of the Army as an institution that would play an important role in the process of reforming Brazilian society. In order to make such an analysis, we especially use the publications of Arthur Lobo da Silva in military and civilian journals, as well as the books The fight against venereal diseases in the Brazilian Army (1929), The health service of the Brazilian Army (1958), Anthropology in Brazilian Army (1929).