Francesa e Duas Cidades

This article presents and analyzes the history of Livraria Francesa and Livraria Duas Cidades, two landmark establishments for São Paulo intellectuals in the second half of the 20th century. The first one, founded in 1947 by the French immigrant couple Paul-Jean and Juliette Monteil; the second, erected in 1954 by the Dominican Friar Benevenuto de Santa Cruz. Considering the relevance of bookstores for the history of books in Brazil, we approached the book trade in the city of São Paulo and its intellectual and cultural circuits during the 1950s and 1960s. Then we examine the trajectories of Livraria Francesa and Livraria Duas Cidades during this period, demonstrating how they contributed to the construction of São Paulo culture through the imports of French books and magazines. These publications met the demand of intellectuals and university students, which consolidated the two bookstores as important centers of intellectual formation and sociability in the city of São Paulo

Art · Humanities · History of Education Research in Brazil · Sociology and Education in Brazil