The "Colonel Sydnei": trajectory of a black businessman in Curitiba since the 50’s

Abstract

In this article we analyze the trajectory of the army offi cial, politician and businessman Sydnei Lima Santos, a black man who was born in Rio de Janeiro and made most of his history in Curitiba. He moved to the city in 1951 and founded, twenty-two years later, in 1973, what would be one of the biggest Universities in the state of Paraná, the Tuiuti. We analyze the channels of his social ascension, specifi cally the army, the politics, the personal relationships and the fi eld of the private education, aiming to understand the possibilities opened to the black people in a society that was suffering signifi cant modernizing changes. We explore some statistical data that indicate these changes and the “conservative ideology” expressed in the works of some local intellectuals since the 50`s. By doing so, we expect to make it possible to understand the meaning of the trajectory and of its vicissitudes in the specifi c local context and related to the broader discussions on the “racial relations” in Brazil.