A Necessary Man - 1

INTRODUCTORY NOTE
My intention with this weblog is to expose (sometimes in Portuguese, but mostly in English) some of my work and concerns about the nature of space, and how we, "urban beings", get along organising our lives in space, essentially in urban space. Personal and professional work will appear here along with other references and things I will find on the internet, in books and papers.

I see no better way of openning this weblog, but with a series of 6 posts about the man once called the philosopher of space and geography, the Brazilian geographer Milton Santos. As his work is not well known by many Anglo-Saxon scholars, I will reproduce in these 6 posts, the text in English "Milton Santos (1924-2001), a necessary man" by Miguel Panadero Moya (Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha) for the occasion of Santos' death in 2001.

Your comments are very welcome. I hope you enjoy this PLACE of SPACE.

PART I: THE HUMANIST
[From the text "Milton Santos (1926-2001), A Necessary Man" (2001), by Miguel Panadero Moya Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha]

In the last week of June [2001] the worldwide web transmitted messages from all over Latin America and Europe announcing the death of one of the most illustrious personalities of 20th Century social sciences, the Brazilian geographer Milton Santos. As the President of the Brazilian Association of Geographers mentioned in her message, we were saying farewell to an intellectual who thought and struggled for a different and better world, for a slower existence, for a kinder world, for respect of differences, for a new way of living our history and geography, and for a different globalization in which citizenship would be complete and space for emotion possible.

The disappearance of Milton Santos leaves an important void in the culture of the nascent 21st century, deprived of one of its treasures. A lucid and brilliant geographer, his opinions were characterized by the firmness and depth of his judgement, qualities that are also prominent in his numerous publications. Milton's proposals are an inexhaustible source of stimulating ideas towards which nobody can be passive at.

Born in Brotas de Macaúbas, in the Brazilian Chapada Diamantina, Bahia State, on May 3rd, 1926, he completed his university studies in Salvador; and then graduated with a degree in Law from the Federal University of Bahia in 1948. Nevertheless, it would not be the field of law where Milton Santos' vocation would lie, but in that of teaching. In 1954 he became a lecturer at the Catholic Faculty of Philosophy in Salvador de Bahia, where he was greatly influenced by French geographers, thus determining his future interest in this field.

From this moment on the life of Milton Santos has been described as a sequence of triumphs, misfortunes, honours, and worries. He received his doctorate in Geography from the University of Strasbourg, France (1958) and was a Lecturer (1960) and Professor (1961) of Geography in the Federal University of Bahia. His numerous positions held include that of President of the Commission of Economic Planning for Bahia in 1962. Being an avid reader, an untiring observer, a traveller by obligation, and an exile in France in 1964, he accumulated knowledge and experiences in Europe and Africa during this decade and that of the seventies, as well as in both Latin and Anglo-Saxon America. "Maítre des Conférences Associé of Geographie", University of Bordeaux, France (1967); Professor of Geography at the University of Paris, Sorbonne (1968); Research Fellow of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA, (1971); Full Visiting Professor, University of Toronto, Canada, (1972); Professor of the National University of Engineers, Lima, Peru, (1973); Professor of the Economics Faculty of Sciences, Central University of Venezuela, (1974); Professor at the University of Dar is Salam, Tanzania, (1974); Visiting Professor at the University of Campinhas, Sâo Paulo, (1975); Professor of Geography and Urban Planning at Columbia University, New York, (1976)… At the end of the 70's, he returned to Brazil to become fully integrated in academic activity, first as a Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of the University of Sâo Paulo, (1978); then as a Visiting Professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, (1979); and finally as a Professor of Human Geography in the University of Sâo Paulo, where he would produce a bounteous corpus academic work until the end of his days. His ideas on discipline and social problems in the second half of the 20th century have been collected in an extensive bibliography which stands out for its originality, scientific precision, and acuteness. Milton Santos wrote more than 40 books, some of which are considered important theoretical contributions to the field of Human Geography and Urbanism. In addition, he published dozens of essays and contributions in collective books and the daily press, as well as 200 research papers in journals. His intellectual inheritance is outlined in one of his last books, "A natureza do espaço. Técnica e tempo. Razâo e emoçâo", published in 1996 by the Brasilian firm Hucitec, and recently translated into Spanish by Ariel.