Assis Chateaubriand

Assis Chateaubriand
Assis Chateaubriand in 1937
Born	4 October 1892 Umbuzeiro, Paraíba, Brazil
Died	4 April 1968 (75 years) São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Nationality	Brazilian
Alma mater	Recife's Law Faculty
Occupation	Businessman, journalist, patron, politician, lawyer, university professor and writer

Francisco de Assis Chateaubriand Bandeira de Melo (pronounced [fɾɐ̃ˈsisku dʒi aˈsis ʃɐtobɾiˈɐ̃ bɐ̃ˈdejɾɐ dʒi ˈmɛlu]), best known as Assis Chateaubriand and also nicknamed Chatô (October 4, 1892 – April 4, 1968), was a Brazilian lawyer, journalist, politician and diplomat. He was born in Umbuzeiro, state of Paraíba, in the Northeast of Brazil, on October 4, 1892, and died on April 4, 1968, in São Paulo. He was one of the most influential public figures in Brazil during the 1940s and the 1950s, becoming notable as a journalist, an entrepreneur, an arts patron as well as a politician. Chateaubriand was appointed Ambassador of Brazil to the United Kingdom, position he held from 1957 to 1961. He was also a lawyer and professor of law, writer and member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters, occupying its 37th chair from 1954 until his death in 1968.

Chateaubriand was a media mogul in Brazil between the late 1930s and the early 1960s and the owner of Diários Associados, a conglomerate that counted at its peak more than a hundred newspapers, radio and TV stations, magazines and a telegraphic agency. He is also known as the co-creator and founder, in 1947, of the São Paulo Museum of Art (MASP), together with Pietro Maria Bardi. Chateubriand also founded the first television network of Latin America and the fifth in the world (Tupi TV). He was Senator of the Republic between 1952 and 1957.

An often polemic and controversial figure, hated and feared, Chateaubriand has also been nicknamed "the Brazilian Citizen Kane" and accused of unethical behavior, for allegedly blackmailing companies that did not place ads in his media vehicles, and for insulting entrepreneurs with lies (such as industry owner Count Francesco Matarazzo). His empire would have been built based on political interests and agreements, including tumultuous but profitable ties with Brazilian President Getúlio Vargas.