Celso lafer biography
Celso Lafer (1941- )
An elegant erudite. Scion of a famous Brazilian Jewish clan. He occupied a position many Brazilians would envy: professor of law at the University of São Paulo. His impeccable English was a product of having done a PhD in Political Science at Cornell. He wrote his thesis on one of JK’s most famous accomplishments: the pro-industrialization drive called the ‘Programa de Metas.’
His first wife was the daughter of Brazil’s most famous bibliophile. His second was a glamorous professor of classics. Celso was of a generation of brilliant intellectual politicians who graced public life in the democratization wave after the golpe of 1964.
Celso’s uncle had been Foreign Minister and Celso himself was born to be another Foreign Minister. He was an accomplished cosmopolite who ably represented his nation.
I collaborated with him on many projects, one being my attempt, as a Ford Foundation Consultant, to organize Brazilian think tanks on International Relations. It miscarried, more to do with obtuse American academic preconceptions than to the heroic efforts of Celso and yours truly.
Celso was a wonderful intellectual interlocutor. He taught me much about Brazilian culture. He and I converged on a public forum on Latin America in my hometown of Cincinnati. A local civic group was trying to enlighten the burghers of the “Queen City” about the underworld.
It was a proud moment for me, bringing together two realms of my life. We did our best.
Further Readings
Lafer, Celso. The Planning Process and the Political System in Brazil; a Study of Kubitschek's Target Plan--1956-1961. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University, 1970.
Lafer, Celso. A identidade internacional do Brasil e a política externa brasileira: passado, presente e futuro. São Paulo, SP, Brasil: Editora Perspectiva, 2001.
Lafer, Celso. Horácio Lafer: democracia, desenvolvimento e política externa. Brasília, DF: Fundação Alexandre De Gusmão, Instituto De Pesquisa De Relações Internacionais, Comissão Organizadora Do Centenário De Nascimento De JK, 2002.
Celso Lafer was born in the city of São Paulo. After receiving a law degree from the University of São Paulo, he entered into politics and worked as Foreign Minister under President Fernando Collor de Mello in 1992. After Fernando Henrique Cardoso won the presidency in 1995, Lafer acquired the role of Commerce Minister in 1999 and again served as Foreign Minister in 2001. He is now a member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters and teaches at the University of São Paulo as a professor of Philosophy of Law.