Barbosa Lima Sobrinho, Alexandre Jose

▪ 2001

      Brazilian journalist and politician (b. Jan. 22, 1897, Recife, Braz.—d. July 16, 2000, Rio de Janeiro, Braz.), was a longtime columnist for the daily newspaper Jornal do Brasil and head of the Brazilian Press Association for more than 25 years. After graduating from law school in 1917, Barbosa Lima went to work for Jornal do Brasil. He became the paper's editor in chief in 1926, the same year he assumed the leadership of the Brazilian Press Association. A socialist, Barbosa Lima was a leading critic of Brazil's military dictatorships and an outspoken advocate of measures to improve the social conditions of the country's workers. He also used his position to fight censorship and defend press freedom. Barbosa Lima made a number of forays into politics, serving as governor of the state of Pernambuco in the late 1940s and later serving three terms in Congress. In 1973 he ran unsuccessfully for vice president on a ticket headed by opposition leader Ulysses Guimarães. Barbosa Lima's most significant political contribution came in 1992, however, when he helped organize a petition calling for the impeachment of Pres. Fernando Collor, who resigned amid corruption charges after impeachment proceedings began. By the end of his long career, Barbosa Lima had published more than 50 books and some 5,000 newspaper articles, the last of which appeared in Jornal do Brasil on the day he died. Pres. Fernando Henrique Cardoso declared three days of national mourning following Barbosa Lima's death.

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