Rene Armand Dreifuss

1945-2003

 

 

 

In Memoriam

 

Rene Armand Dreifuss, one of the most brilliant Brazilian social scientists of his generation, died at his home on Sunday May 5th. Struggling for almost three years against a grave illness, and having been subjected to two brain operations to eradicate a tumor that proved invincible, he carried on with his work as a teacher and researcher until shortly before his death. He kept giving lessons in his home, under arduous conditions, to students from the International Relations program of the Political Science department at the Fluminense University.

 

Last December, already having serious difficulties to move and speak, he made a point of being present at the university to preside the committee that evaluated the Masters thesis of one of his students. His wife, Estrela Bohadana, read aloud his questions and comments.

 

Despite his disease, he mustered the strength to travel, in the country and abroad, to respond to some of the many invitations from the most prestigious educational and research institutions that were always on his desk. Finding gaps in his scarce time, and overcoming the fatigue caused by his medications, he found enough motivation to write, always counting with the invaluable help of his wife, his latest book: Matrizes do Seculo XXI (Matrices of the 21st Century), which continues his penetrating reflections on the development of new perceptual paradigms to understand the scientific and technological leaps of the new global order. His wife, friends and colleagues of the Fluminense University will of course make sure that the work is published soon.

 

Rene had a broad and solid intellectual formation. Born in 1945 in Montevideo, Uruguay, he graduated in History and Political Science at the University of Haifa, Israel. In Britain, he continued his graduate work in Political Science, earning his Masters degree at the University of Leeds in 1974 and his PhD degree at the University of Glasgow in 1980. He participated in countless seminars, conferences, symposia, and lectures both in Brazil and abroad. Multilingual (he spoke and wrote in Spanish, Portuguese, English, French, German and Hebrew), he published in Brazilian and international magazines dozens of articles on political affairs, Latin American issues and international relations.

 

His first book became a popular bestseller with successive editions: 1964 - A Conquista do Estado (1964 - The Conquest of the State, first published by Ed. Vozes in 1981). It was followed by other books, including A Internacional Capitalista (The Capitalist International, published by Ed. Espaco-Tempo in 1986), O Jogo da Direita na Nova Republica (The Game of the Right in the New Republic, published by Ed. Vozes in 1989), Politica, Poder, Estado e Forca - Leitura de Weber (Politics, Power, Status and Force - Reading Weber, published by Ed. Vozes in 1993), and A Epoca da Perplexidade (The Age of Perplexity, published by Ed. Vozes in 1996).

 

Among the several positions he occupied, he was professor of political science at Minas Gerais University (1980/1984), founding member of the Center for Strategic Studies at Campinhas University, technical advisor of the School of Public Service Foundation of Rio de Janeiro and, until recently, ad-hoc advisor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federative Republic of Brazil. Since 2000 he had been coordinator of the module "Change of Paradigms in Science and Technology" at the Virtual Institute of International Studies of Global Change, Rio de Janeiro University. From 1986 until his death he was professor of the Department of Political Science of the Fluminense University, teaching in graduate and postgraduate studies, where, in recent years, he was receiving special funding to support his research.

 

I was a personal friend and colleague of Rene Armand Dreifuss for 27 years. As such, I followed and witnessed the career of this exemplary professional, his remarkable discipline of work, and, above all, his rare talent for understanding the intricate processes that characterize contemporary social life. As a person, Rene died as he had always lived: emphasizing dignity as the core value of his conduct, a convinced democrat, and a scientist interested in investigating solutions to the problems of poverty and misery in Brazil and the world at large. Naturalized Brazilian, he experienced the country with passion, suffering and rejoicing. Here he married three times. With his first wife, Aurea Fuks, he had his only son, Daniel. He spent his last ten years of life with Estrela Bohadana, who accompanied him until the last moment taking care, comforting and loving him.

 

Shortly after his burial, Bernardo Sorj, friend of Rene of all hours, hugging me with sadness, told me in tears that now, we are both poorer. I recognize the validity of his words, without being able to alleviate my pain. We are all in this situation, his relatives, close friends and, in general, social scientists in Brazil and everywhere.

 

We will make sure, therefore, that his memory will remain with us, both here at the Fluminense University and beyond. His spirit will serve as example and guide to the new generations.

 

Eurico de Lima Figueiredo

Chair of Political Science

Universidade Federal Fluminense

May 7, 2003

 

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Follow this link for the academic obituary of Rene Dreifuss:

Revista ALCEU, V.4, N.7, 2003, pp. 249-252