Carlos Heitor Cony, Lyrical and Acute Novelist and Writer, Dies at 91 in Rio

01/08/2018 - 11h08

Journalist, novelist and Folha columnist Carlos Heitor Cony passed away on the night of 5th January in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, at the age of 91 years. He has died in hospital of multiple organ failure around 11pm. He had undergone surgery on his abdomen.

A funny episode and the time he spent at the seminary made of Cony a lyric chronicler of acute intelligence, a prolific novelist who had written for more than 60 years. His writings were concise, reflecting a remarkably agile mind.

Born on March 14th, 1926 in the city of Lins de Vasconcelos in Rio de Janeiro, he was considered to be "dumb" by his family until 4 years old. The boy, with difficulties in pronouncing diphthongs and who changed letters such as "g" for "d", was eight years when was challenged by his brother and friends at a party to a pronunciation task.

As he was changing letter "g" for "d", the group joked and laughed at him. He wrote the words with the correct spelling several times in a piece of paper and showed them. Unfortunately, the group continued joking about him. Once he was unable to speak properly, he concluded that he could express himself clearly in writing where nobody would make fun of him.

He made his first sound on the beach when he got a fright at a red seaplane coming from the sea to the sand. In 1941 when he was 15 years, he underwent a successful surgery on his throat, which solved his problem.

He wanted to study at the seminary. Thus, from 1938 to 1945 he studied the classics (ancient Roman and Greek culture), several languages and classical music at the seminary, leaving at the age of 19 years.

Over this period, he learned to reflect, appreciate liturgy, and developed concentration skills. But he also knew the value of doubt, pain in separation and the cost of free expression.

A man with a very intriguing personality, remaining sceptical, not willing to be part of groups, individualistic and unpredictable. Became a member of the prestigious Brazilian Academy of Letters (ABL) in 2000 where he gave a speech defining himself in the words of the Portuguese writer, Eça de Queiroz, as a "sad, humble and inoffensive anarchist".

"I don't have enough discipline to be a man of the left. I don't have the firm belief to be a man of the right and neither I have the political opportunist immobility of the centre party".

When he was 20 in 1946, he went to the college to study philosophy but quit in the following year. From 1948 to 1950 he did military service. He first married in 1949 and had two daughters, Regina Celi (1951) and Maria Verônica (1954).

During his lifetime, he had three other marriages, two informal marriages and a son, André Heitor (1973).

JOURNALISM

Son of Julieta de Moraes and Ernesto Cony Filho, journalist who died in 1985 at the age of 91 and was the main character of his book "Quasi-Memory" ("Quase Memória") (1995), Cony officially started his career as a journalist at the age of 26, as a writer for Rádio Jornal do Brasil.

Cony's first novel was written in 1955, " The Uterus" (O Ventre). Although the novel was considered to be really good, the book was not awarded by the jury. His second novel "The Truth in Each Day" ("A Verdade de Cada Dia") was written in nine days and was awarded by the jury in 1957.

The third novel "Safety Brick" ("Tijolo de Segurança") was also awarded the first prize in 1958. More three novels were written as follows: "Information for the Crucified One" ("Informação ao Crucificado") (1961), "Memory Matter" ("Matéria de Memória") (1962) and "Before, the Summer" ("Antes, o Verão") (1964).

The critics remarked that his novels painted a very vivid portrait of the ruthless middle class of Rio de Janeiro with a taste of existentialism and self-pity, expressing the feeling of emptiness, inability to communicate and lack of collective perspectives, which went against the euphoria of Juscelino Kubitscheck's government.

Thus, the writings of Cony could reveal his remarkable critical attitude across his lifetime.

The novelist first ambition was to write ten novels on the "human condition". Going beyond his own expectations, he wrote more than ten novels as well as chronicles, biographies, reporting, children's fiction and adaptation of classics. He was a compulsive writer who considered himself with no style of writing, although his critics could not agree on it. He was given recognition for his writings, however, it was in 1962 as a chronicler for the newspaper "Correio da Manhã" that he could reach more readers.

Nevertheless, he became a well-known writer right after the Brazilian military coup in 1964. Once he was not committed to any political party, he decided to express himself without being controlled or limited in reaction to the military regime. The chronicles against the regime paved the way for his bold style of writing. The impact of his writings caused great astonishment for a writer who was considered to be "alienated", which was a label, he never rejected.

What might sound a firm activism had a particular meaning to Cony. Once he explained: "People who worked with me had disappeared, were beaten on the streets, were tortured []. I was so disgusted with all of it that I started to write about it with a personal violence."

He got sympathy and fame but also serious issues. From 1964 to 1972, he was sued 12 times and was arrested six times. The worst one was at the end of 1968 when he stayed in jail for one month. Under pressure in 1965, the writer quit the newspaper "Correio da Manhã" and started working for Ediouro, a publishing house, with adaptation of classics, translations, writing prefaces, and as a contributor.

In 1967 the most polemical of his novels was edited: "Passover (Pesach): The Crossing" ("Pessach: a Travessia"). This novel was about the dramatic life of the left-wing members and intellectuals regarding the dilemma of engaging or not engaging against the military regime. Due to political circumstances and personal issues, Cony travelled abroad to Paris, Moscow, Prague and Havana. Stayed in Cuba for 11 months between 1967 and 1968.

Back to Brazil with no professional opportunities, Cony accepted Adolpho Bloch's invitation to work for his publishing company, which supported and was in favour of the military regime. Cony worked there for 30 years and defined his option as a way of adjusting himself to a sort of "luxurious jail"

The left-wing members claimed that Cony made a pact with devil when he joined the Bloch's group. As a reaction to it, Cony wrote "Pilate" ("Pilatos") (1974), a novel with scatological and pornographic elements whose main character had been castrated after an accident, and started roaming the streets of Rio with his penis inside a glass jar.

For Cony, "Pilate" was his best book, not so much for its literary features, but most for being the only book which was able to express him completely. This novel showed that he was "pissed off" with the right and the left and also became a turning point when he left his work of fiction.

Over this period, he felt happier. Wearing ponytail, he painted pictures, travelled, had a son and a granddaughter. "I preferred to live better. Life was good, funny. It was a period that I didn't need to write".

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Back in the spotlights on March 1993, Cony became the columnist for the "Rio de Janeiro" section of Folha. The former columnist was Otto Lara Resende.

His productive energy was channelled again into daily chronicles as well as into literary fiction. After two years, an unhappy event brought him back to fiction, when he spent nights awake taking care of his dog Mila, a female Irish setter, seriously ill. He then wrote in three weeks "Quasi-Memory" ("Quase Memória")(1995), a mix of novel, reporting and chronicle, a lyrical apology he made to his father for holding him in contempt. This book was dedicated to his dog Lina, which died a few days before he could finish it.

The success of this novel started a creative movement, which paved the way for writing six novels in ten years. Cony was awarded first prize eight times, one of them from the prestigious Brazilian Academy of Letters in 1996. In August of the same year, he joined the Editorial Board of Folha and became a columnist for the Culture section on Saturdays.

In 1998 he received a commendation (Chevalier da Ordre des Arts et des Lettres) from the French Government for his achievement. In March 2000 he was selected to join the ABL with 25 votes out of 37.

Many people might have imagined Cony as a bad-tempered person due to his pessimism, bitter attitude, and incisive comments but this conclusion was based on a false premise - nothing could be further from the truth.

Cony knew how to align his informal style with the ceremonial occasions and duties, and to meet the tight deadlines of the editorial production in all institutions he worked for.

He was witty, easy to chat to, and very charming, a good communicator, had such a great ability to engage in good conversation with an irreverent approach. Funny and ironic, he often wore tennis shoes and dressed casually with suspenders. When he was giving talks, he made the audience laugh easily.

In 2001 he found out a lymphatic cancer and had to deal with the disease until death. Due to the chemotherapy treatment, he lost strength in arms and legs. He fell down in 2013, which caused a blood clot in his brain. When his health problems started after 1991, Cony reviewed his position regarding religion. Although he was agnostic, he had a small Saint Anthony statue at home.

A cremation service will be held in the afternoon on Tuesday, January 9, at Memorial do Carmo in Rio.

Translated by PATRÍCIA MARIA ANTUNES

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	Mauro Pimentel/Folhapress
	Journalist, novelist and Folha columnist Carlos Heitor Cony passed away on the night of 5th January 2018 in Rio de Janeiro