The University of Coimbra and Brazil

Brazil is a fascinating country. The music, the landscapes, the diversity of the people, the joy, the immensity, everything manages to enchant us. Without Brazil, Lusophony would be a "local" phenomenon; with the invaluable input of this great country she is a rising global star. The University of Coimbra (UC) had a decisive importance in the formation of Brazil. It was in Coimbra that almost all of the Brazilian elite involved in the independence of their country studied. José Bonifácio de Andrade e Silva, the "patriarch of independence", was even a professor in Coimbra.

In the global world we live in, all societies have to look at the planet as a whole and not just at their region or country. The future of the University of Coimbra is therefore indelibly linked to that of Brazil, a country that plays a very relevant role for the UC, not only as a link between the new world of the South and the old world of the North, but also because it is with the help of the UC - which currently receives thousands of Brazilian students - that Brazil deepens the process of building its own identity, rebuilds the cultural matrix of its roots and contributes to the cosmopolitan evolution of its and our people.

This exhibition is, for all these reasons, one more piece of data in the (re)encounter between the University of Coimbra and Brazil, allowing us to conclude that the connection is deep, has always existed and can only get stronger." Opening Words by João Gabriel Silva , Rector of the University of Coimbra.

ISBN: 9789892601618