Gilberto Gil Is Elected to The Academia Brasileira de Letras

His and Fernanda Montenegro's election suggests an institution more attuned to the diversity of today's Brazil

São Paulo

Singer and composer Gilberto Gil, 79, was elected the youngest immortal at the Academia Brasileira de Letras. With 21 votes, he won a dispute with the poet Salgado Maranhão and the writer Ricardo Daunt.

Minister of Culture from 2003 to 2008 in the Lula government, Gil is one of the main exponents of the tropicalist movement, responsible for a revolution in music and aesthetics from the 1960s onwards.

The composer, who will occupy chair 20 of the ABL, wrote fundamental songs such as "Aquele Abraço," "Esotéerico," "A Novidade" and hundreds more, whose verses were compiled in the volume "Todas Letras," published in 1996.

The choice of one of the best-known figures in Brazilian culture to occupy the seat left by journalist Murilo Melo Filho, in the week following the election of actress Fernanda Montenegro, suggests that the ABL is undergoing a significant change.

An institution often accused of caving in, it now welcomes names of vast popularity, who have become famous in areas outside literature.

President of the organization, writer Marco Lucchesi says that the elections are justified by the "understanding of a broader sense of culture."

Translated by Kiratiana Freelon

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