Gone is the poet: Pedro Nava and the impasses in the institutionalization of rheumatology in Brazil,1949-1961

Abstract

A little-known facet of the trajectory of Pedro Nava is analyzed, namely, his involvement in the institutionalization of rheumatology in Brazil. Drawing on multiple primary sources, including medical journals, correspondence, notebooks, technical reports, and newspaper stories, the range of mechanisms Nava galvanized in the effort to legitimize this new area of medicine in Brazil as of the 1940s are shown. These include his efforts to forge networks outside the country, create new departments, take active part in the journal Brasil Médico, develop a specialized lexicon for rheumatology, liaise with the State, and found new associations.

Pedro Nava (1903-1984); history of science; medicine; rheumatology; social thinking