In a ceremony held in the lobby of the City Hall of Campinas City Hall, last Friday (27th), the book Green ticket to democracy – Chico Amaral, a political biography. Published by the Unicamp Memory Center, the book marks the centenary of the birth of the former mayor of Campinas, who would have turned 100 on January 29th.
In addition to Chico Amaral's widow, Marília Martorano Amaral, the tribute was attended by his daughters Eliana Martorano Amaral (professor at Unicamp's Faculty of Medical Sciences), Yara, Adriana and Ana Cristina Martorano Amaral and their grandchildren. Several political authorities also attended the event and were received by the mayor of Campinas, Dário Saadi, who invited the rector of Unicamp, Antonio José de Almeida Meirelles, and the president of the Municipal Chamber of Campinas, Luiz Carlos Rossini, to sit at the table, among others. other authorities.
For the dean, the launch of the book with the biography of Chico Amaral was a very significant event. “Chico marked the history of our city and designed Campinas for the whole country. He was mayor twice and federal deputy during the military regime, acting in the group of Autênticos of the MDB at the time. His story serves as an example for today, as he always valued democracy, social justice and permanent dialogue as a way of doing politics”, he says.
Antonio Meirelles congratulated the author José Pedro Martins, the whole family of Chico Amaral, in the figure of Professor Eliana Amaral and the team from the City Hall of Campinas, in the figure of Mayor Dário Saadi, for the initiative. He also thanked the efforts and collaboration of the teams at the Unicamp Memory Center (CMU) and the Coordination of Interdisciplinary Research Centers and Nuclei (Cocen).
Professor Eliana Amaral, the former mayor's third daughter, highlighted her father's humanist spirit. “Public policies were her focus, in education, health, housing, leisure and culture”, she said in her speech during the homage.
Mayor Dário spoke of Chico Amaral's performance as a constitutionalist deputy, recalling that he was the author of the law that guarantees workers access to the Guarantee Fund for building their own homes.
Chico Amaral was mayor of Campinas for two terms (1977-1982 and 1997-2000) and federal deputy six times. He passed away in 2016, on the eve of his 93rd birthday.
The book Green ticket to democracy – Chico Amaral, a political biography was written by journalist José Pedro Martins and is on sale at Livraria Pontes and, as of Wednesday (February 1st), will be available on Memory Center website. The exhibition “Chico Amaral: an Authentic Campineiro”, also inaugurated this morning (27), was organized by the Municipal Archive of Campinas, with photos, documents and texts displayed on panels that will remain mounted in the City Hall until February 24 . Next, the exhibition will be set up in the CMU lobby.
Originally published on Unicamp website
