Latvian Immigration to Sao Paulo, Brazil: 1890-1970

LATVIAN IMMIGRATION TO SAO PAULO, BRAZIL: 1890-1970

IMMIGRATION AND ASSIMILATION

by

leva Mara Megnis Cornford

B.M., University of British Columbia, 1973

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts

in the Department of Hispanic and Italian Studies

We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard

THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

April, 1975 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for

an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that

the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study.

I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis

for scholarly purposes may be granted by the Head of my Department or

by his representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission.

Department of H/Si~>r?nt'r J/r?//^-, /< >/V :

The University of British Columbia Vancouver 8, Canada

Date SJ/yt/S J /*/Zi> i

ABSTRACT

Documentation of the extent of Latvian immigration to Brazil and to

the urban centre of Sao Paulo between 1890 and 1970 and evidence of the

degree of Latvian-Brazilian assimilation are non-existent. This thesis

fulfills a need for investigating the displacement of the Latvian ethnic

society into an unfamiliar geographical, social and cultural Brazilian

environment. Both Latvia and Brazil are discussed in terms of geography

and climate, origins of civilization and language, cultural heritage and

social structure. The cosmopolitan nature of Sao Paulo is introduced. The

reasons for Latvian migration and statistical information regarding Brazilian

immigrant policy and numbers of immigrants are derived from census data,

church records and archival material. A Lutheran church record case study

is also documented as supporting material, and estimates are established

from a wide variety of reported statistical information concerning Latvians

in Brazil. Latvian religious subdivisions form the basis for tracing the

Sao Paulo community development and extent of Latvian-Brazilian assimilation.

General aspects of assimilation in Brazil are applied to the Latvian community with detailed discussion of cultural and social integration including inter• marriage and language, customs and environment. Conclusions are drawn from the extent of Latvian influence within the Brazilian society and the reciprocal but stronger Brazilian contribution to the Latvian heritage. ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

INTRODUCTION . . 1

SECTION A: TWO COUNTRIES AND TWO PEOPLES 5

CHAPTER I: LATVIA, A UNIQUE SOCIAL AND CULTURAL HERITAGE ... 6

Geography and Climate . . . 6

Origins of Civilization and Climate . . 7

Cultural Heritage 8

Social Structure ... 12

CHAPTER II: BRAZIL, A DEVELOPING AND PROMISING LAND 18

Geography and Climate ' 18

Cultural Heritage . . ' 18

Political and Social Structure 21

Racial and Geographical Subdivisions 23

CHAPTER III: SAO PAULO, THE HEART OF THE SOUTH 27

Geography, Topography and Climate 27

Population and Immigration Composition 28

SECTION B: LATVIAN EMIGRATION AND IMMIGRATION 37

CHAPTER IV: LATVIAN MIGRATION ... 38

Reasons and Conditions for Migration 38

CHAPTER V: LATVIAN IMMIGRATION TO BRAZIL 1+3

Latvian Religious Subdivisions in Sao Paulo hh

SECTION C: BRAZILIAN ASSIMILATION OF LATVIAN IMMIGRANTS 52

CHAPTER VI: GENERAL ASSIMILATION 53 iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS Continued

PAGE

CHAPTER VII: LATVIAN ASSIMILATION 58

CHAPTER VIII: CULTURAL AND SOCIAL INTEGRATION ...... 63

Language and Intermarriage . 63

Customs and Environment Assimilation ... 69

CONCLUSION 73

Extension of Latvian influence 73

A Monument to Latvian Immigrants in Brazil 73

General Conclusion and Interpretation 7*+

BIBLIOGRAPHY • . . . . 78

APPENDIX:I: A CASE STUDY: THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE LATVIAN LUTHERAN

COMMUNITY IN SAO PAULO 85

APPENDIX II: LATVIAN IMMIGRATION TO BRAZIL

Brazilian Immigration Policy ...... 96

Statistics and Discussion 98 iv

LIST OF TABLES

TABLE NUMBER DESCRIPTION PAGE

I Latvian Statistics: Nationalities (.1935) > Religions

(1935), Employment (1935), Cultural Activities (.1937),

Education (1937) ...... 9-10

II Subdivision of Protestant Denominations in Brazil ... 22

III Occupational Categories of Urban Males in the City of

Sao Paulo 28

IV Immigration to Brazil: 188U-195T, According to Country

of Origin ...... 30

V Brazilian Racial Subdivisions ...... 29

VI Brazilian Population Statistics: Native Brazilians,

Naturalized Brazilians, Foreigners, and Location .... 32

VII Immigration to Brazil and Sao Paulo •• 33

VIII Latvian Immigration Statistics: Worldwide Distribution . 38

IX Population Statistics: Latvia: Urban and Rural .... hi

X Latvian Immigration to Brazil and Sao Paulo: Totals . . ^5

XI Graphical Estimates of Latvian Immigration to Brazil and

Sao Paulo . . h6

XII Important Historical Dates Associated with Latvian

Immigration to Brazil: Relationship to Five-Year

Immigration Averages . . . hj

XIII General Immigration to the State of Sao Paulo: 1827-

1939 • 55 V

LIST OF TABLES Continued

TABLE NUMBER DESCRIPTION PAGE

XIV Latvian Church Composition and Activities in Brazil:

Association of Latvian Baptist Churches (1953), Location

and Number of Baptist Churches (1953), Number and

Denomination of Protestant Churches in Brazil (1953) ... 6l

XV Latvian Lutheran Church Records Statistics: (1951-197M :

Births, Christenings, Confirmations, Marriages, Inter•

marriages, Deaths . . • 66

XVI Word Endings Pronounced similarly in Latvian and

Portuguese . . • 67

XVII Latvian Words adapted from Portuguese • 67

XVIII Latvian adoption of Portuguese Words in preference to

Existing Latvian Words . . 68

XIX Latvian Lutheran Church Record Statistics: (1953-1958)

Membership -

XX Sunday School Attendance (1955-19TO): Latvian Lutheran

Church Records • . . .

XXI Education Levels for the Latvian Immigrant Family {l9k6-

195H): Church Records ...... 91

XXII Latvian Immigrants to Brazil arriving by Ship: Church

Records (19U6-195U) . . . • • 92

XXIII Origin and Number of Northern European Immigrants to

Brazil: 1920-1970 . . . • 99-100 vi

LIST OF TABLES Continued

TABLE

NUMBER DESCRIPTION PAGE XXIV Immigration of Latvians to Brazil: Estimated averages

for five-year intervals 10.2 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to express my appreciation to Dr. R.J. Barman and

Professor H.V. Livermore for their assistance throughout the course of this work, and to thank Dr. K.I. Kobbervig for his advice and suggestions.

I also wish to thank Ingrid L. Megnis for conducting research on my "behalf in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Minister J. Mekss and the Latvian

Lutheran Church records administrator of Sao Paulo for supplying primary source material.

I wish to acknowledge gratefully the experience and valuable in• sight provided by my parents, Klara and Peteris V. Megnis, who have provided the opportunity and background for an appreciation of both the Latvian and Brazilian cultures. My sincerest appreciation to my husband, Dr. Alan B. Cornford, for his moral support, help and under• standing.throughout the writing of this thesis.. 1

INTRODUCTION

There is a distinct lack of available literature, information and

reported research concerning the displacement of minority ethnic groups

from Northern Europe and their assimilation into new social structures

and environments. No matter how small the immigrant population may be, there is generally an identifiable and measurable degree of interaction with the host culture.

The purpose of this study is to establish the extent of Latvian im• migration to Brazil and the urban centre of Sao Paulo between the approximate

dates of 1890 and 1970; and secondly to assess evidence indicating assimila•

tion between the Latvian and Brazilian communities.

The nature of this type of investigation is such that it is preferable

and indeed almost imperative to have a working knowledge of both languages

and cultures, and access to international sources of information. In

addition to these qualities, the author has also had the advantage of personal involvement within the Sao Paulo Latvian environment and personal knowledge and insight into the subject of the thesis.

The lack of reported information has forced heayy reliance on primary

sources of information, several of which could easily lead to a complete study in its own right. Acquisition of church records, private communica• tions, Brazilian government records and archival material, Latvian archival statistical information, and filed newspaper reports has'e- played a major role in the development and pursuit of the thesis. Secondary sources and supporting information available in the reported literature have substantiated and sometimes cast doubt on the accuracy of immigration statistics (outlined 2

in the appendix), leaving judgement of the best estimate to the author.

The research work presented fulfills the objectives of the thesis statement but in no way pretends to be a complete and comprehensive treatise covering all aspects of Latvian immigration nor all aspects of integration and assimilation. The outline has been designed to give an understanding of the background differences and similarities of both countries and peoples together with the conditions of their co-existence. Where available, com• plementary information relating to Latvian migrations and Brazilian immigra• tion policy has been documented.

The period treated in the study has been defined by the available evidence documenting Latvian immigration to Brazil. During the last half of the nineteenth century there is considerable evidence of Latvian community development within the State of Sao Paulo; however, this occurred predominantly in the rural areas particularly at Varpa and Nova Odessa. Only with signifi• cant migration into the city of Sao Paulo in the twentieth century, and increased international migration of Latvians from Latvia and countries of temporary residence as a consequence of the two World Wars and constant oppression, were there sufficient numbers to permit us to analyse urban involvement and assimilation. Therefore the study has been restricted to a period between 1890 and 1970, with greatest concentration and statistical data for the post-Second World War period.

In general, statistical and social data for an ethnic group within any population may be traced from governmental census data,dimmrgratiori records, international archives or published social literature. Should these sources fail to supply adequate information, reliance must be placed on the primary source records of the community, such as personal communications, 3

manuscript papers, ethnic newspapers and church documents. In the case of the Latvian influence in Brazil, by far the strongest ties and best source

of Information is the development and involvement of the church. Religion

played a major role in holding the Latvian community together and created two quite distinct followings, the Lutherans and Baptists, which were readily

distinguishable within the Brazilian religious framework. There is little

documented evidence for a Catholic Latvian community which presumably did

exist but would be more difficult to trace in a predominantly Catholic country.

Social structure was not a viable determinant to classify or distinguish the Latvian immigrants, the majority of the initial immigrants to Brazil having

an agricultural background. However, the social systems of both Latvia -and

Brazil have been briefly analysed particularly in terms of individual freedoms

and comparative educational systems.

The study has been divided into three sections, dealing with geographical

and cultural background of both the Latvian and Brazilian communities, the

Latvian migrations, and finally the form of Latvian-Brazilian integration.

These sections have been subdivided for theppurposes of presentation into the following chapters.

Within Section A there are three chapters which deal in turn with

Latvia, Brazil and Sao Paulo. The chapters in Section B concentrate on the

reasons and conditions for Latvian emigration, and Latvian immigration

statistics to Brazil. This latter chapter also discusses aspects of

religious subdivisions. The final section includes three chapters involving the general assimilation of immigrants, Latvian assimilation and the form of

integration. Detailed statistical material and original manuscript information are contained in an appendix. These two subdivisions describe a case study of the Latvian Lutheran community in Sao Paulo and the Latvian immigration to Sao Paulo (the Brazilian immigration policy and Latvian statistics and discussion). 5

SECTION A

TWO COUNTRIES AND TWO PEOPLES 6

CHAPTER I

LATVIA: A UNIQUE SOCIAL AND CULTURAL HERITAGE

In order properly to introduce and discuss the present distribution of

Latvian peoples as a result of the emigration from the Baltic state and sub• sequent immigration to Brazil and Sao Paulo, it is important to understand the inherent similarities and differences between various physical and cultural aspects of these two countries and peoples. This section deals with aspects of Latvia, followed by similar descriptions for Brazil and a subsequent evaluation of theppotential effects of displacing the Latvians into the new Brazilian situation.

Latvia, the central Baltic state, situated between 55°^0' and 58°05' N latitude and 20°58" and 28°lV E longitude-'- is bordered on the west by the

Baltic Sea and on the east by the U.S.S.R. It has therefore occupied a strategic position within the conventional limits of northernEEurope. The

Baltic countries have the qualities of a natural geographical unit in which the sea has played a dramatic role as provider and source of eventual op• pression:

This border position in the center of the continent is one of the main characteristics of the geographical position of Latvia. The oceanic northwestern part of Europe is super• seded here by the continental area.; this contact between land and sea, and east and west, represents "geographical currency" of Latvia which has been coveted by all the greater powers of the Baltic coast. . . .^

Climatically, Latvia is on the same latitude as the middle districts of Juneau, Alaska, Labrador in Canada and southern Great Britain.3 Although it lies so far north, the winters are not as severe as might be expected and the summers are generally fairly warm with average temperatures in January 7

and July of 23.0°F. and 6h.k°¥. respectively,^ influenced to a moderate ex• tent by the Baltic Sea and the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic Ocean. This creates very favourable weather for agricultural pursuits.5 The arable land covers 35% of the 25,^09 square miles of surface area of Latvia, the remainder being composed of 2k% pasture, 30% woodland and 11% water and bushland.^ Ex• cluding glacial features , the elevation is not much above sea level.,- the average elevation being 293-U feet, while only one fourth of the total area is above 1*00 feet.7

The earliest human habitation in Latvia dates to circa 7800 to 6800 B.C.,1 forming part of the Baltic group of Indo-European peoples.closely related to the Germanic and Slav people. Their language belongs to one of the oldest

Indo-European languages, related to Sanskrit: "Thus the Latvians belong to one of the oldest branches of the European people, from which all peoples of the white race trace their origin."9 However, because of continuous oppression throughout the centuries, the 1953 estimate of total global Latvian population is only 2.5 million. Only between the years 1921 and 19^0 did Latvia gain real independence and its people freely practise their cultural heritage and guide their own destiny. The various aspects of Latvian culture, art and social activity are well documented in the literature:1»3J6>10 "in 192^ the

Latvian government established the Archives of Latvian Folklore (Latviesu folkloras kratuve)";11 a comprehensive collection including about 2,308,000 texts comprising folksongs, fairy tales, legends, riddles, proverbs and folk beliefs among other things. However, there is a lack of historical records and monuments of early art due mainly to the destruction in the wars during the l6th and l8th centuries. By the middle of the 19th century Latvian artists could truly begin to express their own nationality. After the 8

declaration of independence in 1918 and with the formation of a provisional

government Latvian literature showed a tendency toward expressionism which was further modified in the 1930's by a revival of urban literature under

an Anglo-American influence

In the past only folk music was practised. However, at the beginning

of the nineteenth century Latvians were introduced to the music of Western

Europe, partially promoted by initiation of a tradition of choral singing which began in 181+3: "in 1873 the Latvians gathered for the first national

singing festival in Riga."x3 This has developed into a tradition still practised today in Latvian communities in most parts of the world.

During the thirteenth century dominance of folk music, when Catholicism

spread into Latvia, this form of music continued to develop and remained even

into the sixteenth century when most Latvians were converted to Lutheranism.

This trend continued into the nineteenth century with efforts to expel the

German Bait tutelage. After dispelling the 1919 Soviet occupation and persecu• tion of the church, a new phase began in the Lutheran cult in Latvia. By 1935 the distribution of Latvian religious denominations was divided as shown in

Table I. However, the Lutheran Latvians made their church a true church of the people when they gained independence. This is a trait that has been retained despite forced emigration and admixture with other cultures in various parts of the world.

Table I illustrates several of the cultural subdivisions in the 1935 to 1937 period. The national makeup of Latvia was estimated to be approximately

75% native Latvians, 10% Russians and the remaining 15% comprising minority groups predominantly from neighbouring states. The predominant religious group, Evangelical Lutherans, comprised 55-1% of the total];-, however, from 9

TABLE I

LATVIAN STATISTICS

NATIONALITIES (1935)

Nationality Total Number Percent

Latvians 1,1+72,612 75-5 Russians 206,1+99 10.5 Jews 93,1+79 U.7 Germans 62,ll+l+ 3.2. Poles 1+8,91+9 2.5 White Ruthenians 26,867 1.^ Lithuanians ' 22,913 1.2 Estonians 7,0ll+ 0.3 Other nationalities 10,025 0.5

RELIGIONS (1935)

Evangelical Lutherans 11Q®75§61+1 55-1 Roman Catholics Vf6,963 2k.k Greek Orthodox 17^,389 8.9 Old Belief 107,195 5-5 Hebrew , 93,!+06 1+.8 Other Protestants 19,ll+6 1.0 Other religions 3,762 0.2

CULTURAL ACTIVITIES (1-937)

Theatres 1^ Operas 2 Cinemas 9^ Public Libraries 912 School Libraries 1,911 Books published 1,151 Daily Newspapers 13 Monthly Publications 15*+ Weeklies 3^ Broadcasting Stations 1+ Continued ... TABLE I continued

EMPLOYMENT (1935)

Branches Total Number Percent

Agriculture 801,563 67.8 Industry 17^,601 1U.8 Commerce 68,303 5-8 Transportation 26,161 2.2 Administration 39,582 3.3 Professions, Education 21.70U 1.8 Medical 18,169 1.5 Servants 32,63^ 2.8 Different 9,800

EDUCATION (1937)

Total No. Total Teachers Attendance

Element ary, Primary, Supplementary Schools and Kindergartens 11,90k 231,533 9,287 Lower Schools. - Special 83 7,317 735 Vocational Secondary ^5 l,lhk 923 Gymnasia 77 16,779 1,603 Private Academic Institutions k 528 83 University of Latvia 1 6,813 1*16 Latvian State Conservatory 1 278 38 Latvian Academy of Fine Arts 1 205 21

Total 2,116 . 271,197 13,106 11

Table I data the other denomination that is well documented in Brazil, the

Baptists, must apparently be included in the 'I.Other Protestant' group in• volving 1% or less of the Latvian population* This value is very striking in comparison with the religious denominational subdivision noted in the discussion of Brazil, assuming the estimates in Table X of a total Latvian immigrant population from 1890 to 1957 is between 2200 and 5^00, and the city of Sao Paulo 1955 estimates of 320 Lutheran and 1*09 Baptist Latvians.

From this limited data alone it is apparent that the minimum percentage of

Baptist contribution to the Brazilian religious population is approximately

7.5% or greater unless a significant number of the practising Baptists in

Sao Paulo are Baptist Brazilians. From additional data in Table X there may be even in excess of 1,1*82 Latvian Baptists in Brazil, that is, in excess of

21% of Latvians may be Baptist. Therefore the 50 to 1 ratio of Lutherans to

Baptists in pre-Second World War Latvia has changed dramatically in Brazil to an estimated minimum of 7 to 27% (.15 to 1, to 1* to l) and in Sao Paulo to approximately a 1 to 1 ratio. Data from private communications estimates the number of Baptist Latvians in Brazil to be much larger than the Lutheran

Latvians.

The remainder of the social and cultural activities in Table I may be compared with Tables XV, XVI and XXI and the discussion in the assimilation section of Chapter III.

The Latvian professional theatre dates from the rebuilding period in

Riga in 1886 during the German domination and was characterized by subsequent steady growth of Latvian elements. Like the other forms of cultural enter• tainment, the Latvian theatre reached its peak during the years of independence: 12

"Stagecraft developed into a truly popular art",-*-5 as it remains today. The opera, founded in'1912 in Riga, is possibly the most representative of the performing arts of the Latvian republic. The activities of the Latvian

National Opera consisted of opera and ballet performances, and symphonic concerts with low admission fees to make the opera accessible to all sections of the population:

The seasonal number of operatic and ballet performances and concerts reached 3^0 during the last pre-war years, with a total attendance of 235,000 . . . and 1+012 performances and concerts with a total attendance of 3.1+ million during its first 15 years.16

For the purposes of understanding the transition of the Latvian people from their homeland into a markedly different culturalaand social climate, it is important to outline briefly the dominant characteristics of pre-war

Latvian society. As a result of continuous political oppression, Latvia was more successful in social and cultural life than in the realm of politics.

However, at the advent of independence Latvians were quick to adopt "a demo• cratic constitution containing an elaborate bill of rights, and providing for universal suffrage (to both sexes over the age of 21 years), proportional representation, a cabinet of ministers responsible to a unicameral legislature, and a wide use of initiative and referendum."1''' The main aims of this new government were to establish an equitable election law, an elected legis• lative body and president of state and a three-party system consisting of labour (13$ of the population), farmers (66%) and a middle class with representation for racial minorities. The social system was implemented and greatly broadened during the period of independence. The policies were successful in fostering free enterprise with little state interference, and in promoting incentives for the individual to work independently for the 13

general benefit of the country. The rewards of life were to be gained from

honest hard work and not from speculation or social support. In keeping with this philosophy there was little emphasis on luxury, or on class dis•

tinction. This aspect of Latvian society is to be compared and contrasted- with that discussed in connection with the Brazilian society in the following

sections "There were few millionaires and no 'high life'; there were no

shameful slums nor an ignorant, suffering proletariat."18 An important

observation may be put forward concerning the lack of beggars and low

occurrence of poverty in Latvia. As a consequence the Latvian people possess

an inherent work-ethic and responsibility to provide for their needs whatever

their geographical location or social status. This feature is supported by

the documentation of unemployment which was generally almost non-existent

throughout Latvian history, except for a few instances in the intellectual professions. Adaptability in the labour force developed according to demand

and to climatic conditions. For example, when there was a lack of production

in the factories the workers assisted in agriculture and during the winter months they assisted in timber cutting.

The Latvian state during Independence maintained a well developed

social security system covering almost all phases o-f assistance. This

included medical aid, insurance for times of sickness, accident insurance

and many other programmes that provided for almost complete coverage. As

a result, taxes were relatively high, amounting to one quarter of a worker's

income, being proportionately higher for the rich. As a general rule there was very little evidence of crime. The harmony of the Latvian society is

also shown by the existence of a well developed cooperative system in both

consumer and agricultural spheres. These had been instrumental in improving Ik

the general welfare of the country and increased the "bargaining power of the people with the corporations. The social clubs and unions formed an import• ant part of life in the rural districts. They were supported by a cultural fund originating from a utilities tax that was also used to foster educational community recreation.

Modern principles of education were introduced into Latvia only after the regaining of independence. School philosophy was stated in the Latvian

School Law: . "Every school must strive to develop its pupils physically, intellectually, aesthetically and morally, and inculcate in them personal and social virtues., industry, patriotism, and friendly feelings toward people of other nationalities and race."x9 The educational system consisted of ten years of compulsory and free elementary school followed by several years of primary education for all Latvian children between the ages of 6 and 16. The law provided for education in the family language and even the schools of Russian, German, Polish and other ethnic groups were supported by the government. Up until 1935» the system was co-educational but separate education was introduced and maintained to a large extent after that time:

In 19lk the population of Latvia numbered 2,552,000 and for every 1000 inhabitants only 67 pupils attended different schools. According to the census of 1937, 137 pupils out of every 1000 inhabitants were attending various schools (not including the university). Illiteracy in 1937 "was less than one percent, among Latvians themselves less than four percent. In 1938, Latvia had one university graduate to every 278 inhabitants20 [generally from the University of Latvia founded in Riga in 19193.

This is approximately double the figure for either Sweden or Denmark. 1937 statistics for attendance at various levels of education are given in Table

I (page 10). 15

The following general observations and comments have been put forward by other authors concerning the social structure of the Latvian people. In

Contemporary Europe (19^1), Dr. E.C. Helmreieh notes:

In 1920 the Baltic states negotiated the peace treaties with Russia which recognized their independence, in 19^0 they were broken again under Russian domination. Only two decades of freedom, but what progress was achieved! . . . Few states can show such a record of agricultural and industrial expansion and cultural development.21

Similarly, in Baltic Background (19^8), Bernard Newman quotes:

Considering its limitations, Latvia did well in its twenty years of freedom: education was of a high standard; there were few wealthy people - but fewer paupers. . . . The spirit of progress was always ap• parent: the greatest need of Latvia was the one thing denied - another twenty years of peace.22

This brief account of the Latvian situation and heritage prior to final occupation and last hope for an independent freedom prepares us for an analysis of their inclusion in a new and different environment. The similarities and differences in the aspects discussed, namely geographical location, climate, demography or cultural heritage, language, religion, education and social structure, are introduced, together with those of a new and excitingly different country, Brazil. • A discussion of the reasons for, and the impact of immigration to an unknown new homeland, forms the substance of the second chapter. 16

CHAPTER I: NOTES

1 J. Rutkis, Latvia, Country and. People (Stockholm: Latvian National

Foundation, 1967), p. 15.

^'Ibid., p. 16.

3 Edgards Andersons, Cross Road Country, Latvia (Iowa: Ed. Dobelis,

Latvju Gramata, 1953), p. 12.

^ Ibid., p. 358.

5 American Latvian Association, Latvi a (Washington: American Latvian

Association in the United States, Inc., 1968), p. 15-

6 Edgards Andersons, Latvia, Past and Present (Iowa: Latvju Gramata,

1969).

7 Andersons, Cross Road Country, Latvia, p. 19.

8 Ibid., p. 637.

9 'Ihid., p. 135.

10 Sources for this include the following: R.O.G. Urch, Latvia:

Country and People (Riga: Walter and Rapa Ltd., 1935); Latvijas Psr.

•Zinatnu Akademija Vestures Instituts, Latviesu Etnografija (Riga: "Zinatne"

Riga, I969); A. Spekke, Latvia and the Baltic Problem (London: Latvian

Information Bureau, 1952) and Latvias Psr. Ministru Padomes Centrala

Statistikas Parvalde, Padomju Latvijas Ekonomika un Kultura (Riga: "Stat- istika" Latvijas Nodala, 1966).

11 Rutkis, p. 500.

12 Andersons, Cross Road Country, Latvia, p. 26^. IT

13 Rutkis, p. 538.

x^ Andersons, Cross Road Country, Latvia,, pp. 360-361.

x5 - ibid., p. 5U8.

lf= ibid. , p. 555-

IT Andersons, Cross Road Country, Latvia, p. -155.

!8 Ibid., p. 160.

19 j. Kronlins, Latvian Schools (Washington, D.C: School Life,

Vol. XXIV, 1939).

20 Andersons, Cross Road Country, Latvia, p. 182.

21 Ibid., p.-171.

22 Ibid. , p. 18

CHAPTER II

BRAZIL: A DEVELOPING AND PROMISING LAND

In distinct contrast to the small territorial limits of Latvia and

the well developed and deep rooted heritage of its peoples, Brazil is a

country of tremendous physical magnitude and rapidly changing civilization:

"Brazil is an immense nation of many contrasts and inner differences, and yet it has achieved a remarkably homogeneous national culture."1

Brazil is the world's fifth largest country, covering over three million square miles and encompassing about one half of the land area of

South America. It borders all of the nations of South America except Chile

and Ecuador and has extended access to the Atlantic Ocean. The northern part, near the mouth of the Amazon River, is at the equator, and the southern part extends beyond the Tropic of Capricorn, on which lies the city of Sao

Paulo. Despite its large size, Brazil has a distinct lack of climatic ex• tremes (dry deserts, high mountains, arctic conditions and earthquakes), although it contains many different physical environments, for example, the humid Amazon lands, the semi-arid lands of the northeast and the southern pampas among others. The detailed variations in the Brazilian climate have been outlined by R.P. Moms en .2-

CULTURAL HERITAGE

As a result of the many and varied origins of the Brazilian population, this country has one of the richest cultures in the world. The basic

Brazilian folkloric traditions are heavily mixed with Iberian, Amerindian 19

and African contributions, with minor influences derived from the seventeenth century Dutch dominance in the northeast, and smaller contributions from

Italian, German, Lebanese, Poles and Japanese among others. These have been unified by the common Portuguese language which has in turn been enriched and modified by the many European and non-European languages such as Yoruba,

Angolan and Tupi.3 Folk festivals and vivid expression in both dance and song are an important ingredient in the way of-life, possibly best exemplified by the annual Carnival of Rio de Janeiro. Religious music played an important role as early as the seventeenth century, although music schools had existed even earlier in Bahia. A major intensification of musical activity occurred with the arrival of the Portuguese royal family in the early nineteenth century, which may be paralleled with the introduction of western European music to the Latvian culture in northern Europe.in the same era. The Modern

Art Week of 1922 began a new revolution in art, literature, painting and music which initiated a new trend towards a Brazilian expression of modern forms. This was very evident in the adaptation of folkloric melodies and rhythms in compositions such as H. Villa-Lobos' "Bachianas Brasileiras".

Brazilian popular music is an integral part of everyday life and is ex• pressed in various forms such as: modinha, maxixe, samba, choro, marcha and frevo, all of which are constantly being subjected to change. In particular, the s.amba and the "bossa nova" have gained world-wide recogni• tion, the former of which originated in the "favelas" or shanty towns of

Rio de Janeiro.

At the beginning of Brazilian colonization, plays were performed as a means of communication with the Indians. The theatre flourished during the time of the gold and diamond explorations in Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, 20

Pernambuco, Sao Paulo and Porto Alegre. With the advent of Independence,

the Brazilian theatre, as well as all the other arts, started to flourish,

similar to that described earlier for the Latvian people at the onset of

their independence, despite its occurrence at a much later date. The

first expressions of the visual arts were displayed in a primitive Indian

form prior to discovery and influence by the early Dutch occupation. The

creativity of the eighteenth century art is best illustrated by the archi•

tecture, sculpture and religious pictures found in old mining cities during

this "Golden Age of Brazil". The period of tremendous expansion during

Independence was dominated in part by the French influence in the visual

arts, with Rio de Janeiro becoming the artistic capital of Brazil. A some• what different and appealing Brazilian colonial architecture resulted as a modification of the European Portuguese style to the tropical environment,

and again influenced in later years by the French. This stands as a unique

and original architecture which has now evolved into a new contemporary style

readily exemplified by the creative spirit of Brasilia and the newer develop• ing areas in all of Brazil. Brazilian literature accounts for approximately

one half of the Latin American output, having characteristics similar in

some respects to Spanish American but being so different in general that these two form totally separate streams in the world's literary scene:

It is customary to distinguish four periods in Brazil's literary development, each related to different stages in its political and social history: the Colonial Period, until the Independence; the Romantic Period, coinciding roughly with the fifty-seven years of the Empire ;.;the Post-Romantic Period of the first few decades of the republic with the Parnassian, Symbolist and Realist schools; and finally the Modernist Period which set in after the famousr Modern Art Week held in Sao Paulo in 21

1922 and which came to exercise such a profound influence on Brazilian literary and artistic development.^

POLITICAL AND SOCIAL STRUCTURE

Of primary interest and importance to this study is the immediate pre-war and post-Second World War political and social structure in Brazil; however, some of the aspects that originated before this period have had an influence on its civilization. The abolition of slavery in 1888 was one of the immediate causes for the fall of the monarchy in Brazil. The next year the Republic was proclaimed by Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca,^ the "First

Republic", which developed freely from dictatorship along liberal lines.

This period lasted until 1930 when a revolutionary.movement led by Gertulio

Vargas forcefully assumed the leadership of the republic, during a period of worldwide economic depression. Although freedom was severely restricted throughout the following fifteen years of this regime, the country benefited greatly from the following policies: introduction of advanced social welfare, a reform of the educational system, and very substantial progress in industriali• zation with the initiation of steel production. However during the postwar period Vargas was forced to resign, and on voting for the first time in fifteen years the electorate chose General E.G. Dutra. A new democratic constitution was adopted in 19h6, and lasted until 196j. This era saw a succession of presidents terminated by a military takeover in an attempt to expel extremist factions. General Castello Branco was elected by the

Congress and successfully brought political and economic stabilization to

Brazil. Succeeding presidents have instituted reform in the fields of tax policy, social welfare, education, housing and energy, accompanied by 22

unparalleled stability and progress. The history of Brazil is well documented.

Although Roman Catholicism was the predominant religion of Brazil through out the entire period of the empire, "... nevertheless, there was a freedom of religion and worship in Brazil that contrasted sharply with the severe re• straints imposed in Spanish America."''' This was an observance! not generally afforded the Latvian people throughout the major part of their history in their native land. In Brazil in the 1889 republic affirmed, and subsequently the 1937 and 19^5 constitutions reaffirmed, freedom of religion:

All individuals and religious sects may freely and publicly exercise their cult, meet for this purpose and acquire real estate, observing the provisions of common law and the requisite of public and good usage.8

The 1950 census shows 93-5% of Brazilians to be Roman Catholic, 3-h% or a total of 1,7^1,^30 to be Protestant which were subdivided in 1953 as follows:9

TABLE II

Protestant Denomination Number

Assembly of God (Pentecostal) 200,000 Baptist Convention 109,638 Episcopal Church 7,500 Evangelical Lutheran Church 82,000 Independent Presbyterian Church 17,000 Methodist Church 37,000 Presbyterian Church 67,695 Reformed Christian Church 5,000 Synodical Federation (Lutheran) 500,000 Union of Congregational Churches 13,000 Others 26,500

Total 1,065,333

In particular, the Protestant groups most likely to include members of the

Latvian community in-Brazil lie in the Lutheran and Baptist denominations which have been referred to in Table I. The Protestant church has shown 23

predominance in the south and may be 'clearly represented by founding and maintaining Protestant schools and colleges, for example, Mackenzie College in Sao Paulo, which have contributed measurably to the educational progress of the country. It is of interest to note that the less enlightened portion of the Brazilians in the poorer sector of society even today retain some animistic beliefs and magicalppractices as part of their religion.

In keeping with democratic principles, education in Brazil is designated as the right of every person, with the administration of the system under government control. The primary years of education are compulsory and sub• sidized where lack of resources is demonstrated, and instruction is given in the language of the country, that is, Portuguese. This is in contrast to the

Latvian system while under oppression during the Soviet occupation, at which time use of Latvian language instruction was prohibited in educational in• stitutions. Religious instruction in Brazilian schools was to be in accord• ance with the beliefs of the individual pupil in such a way as to reinforce and relate to the family relationship. Under theppresent educational system primary school lasts four years, there is a similar period of 'ginasio', followed by three years of 'colegio' in preparation for university:

The contribution of private schools to primary education amounts to lQ% of the total number corresponding to this grade:? where secondary education is concerned, however, the proportion is as high as Q0% and this is one of the peculiarities of Brazilian education at the present time. The secondary schools in particular are run by associations, religious congregations, co-operative teachers' associa• tions or even individual firms. In higher education private initiative also co-operates to a very large ex• tent.10

RACIAL AID GEOGRAPHICAL SUBDIVISIONS

The origins^ of the major racial groups of inhabitants may be classified 2k

as the Mongoloid American Indian, the African Negro and the European

Caucasoid.ix These groups have adapted themselves to the environment in many different ways as a result of factors such as topography, climate, ecology, industrialization, economic development and ethnic origin. Possibly the most critical of these is the physical nature of the country which is divided into various regions: the North, the Northeast, the East, the West and the South.12 For the purposes of this study we will concern ourselves only with the South and direct our attention primarily to the State of Sao

Paulo.

The South can be subdivided into a series of regions each with its own form of national culture. These may be arbitrarily designated as "cosmopolitan

Rio de Janeiro . . . the dynamic city and state of Sao Paulo . . . the Southern regions of European immigration, Santa Catarina, Parana, and Rio Grande do

Sul . . . and the wide pampas of the extreme south."13 25

CHAPTER II: NOTES

1 Charles Wagley, An Introduction to Brazil (New York: Columbia

University Press, 1971), p. 1«

2 Richard P. Momsen, Jr., Brazil: A giant Stirs (Princeton: D. Van

Nostrand Company Inc., 1968), p. 11.

3 Information Department of the Brazilian Embassy, Brazil (London:

The Lavenham Press Ltd., 1972), p. 32.

^ Ibid., p. 26.

5 H.V. Livermore, "Brazilian History: The Republic", in Portugal and Brazil, ed. H.V. Livermore (London: Oxford University Press, 1953), p. 320.

6 E. Bradford Burns, Nationalism in Brazil (New York: Frederick A.

Praeger, 1968); G. Campbell, Brazil Struggles for Development (London:

Charles Knight & Co. Ltd., 1972); E. Garrastazu Medici, Nosso Caminho

(Brazilia: Departamento de Imprensa Nacional, 1972); H.V. Livermore,

Portugal and Brazil.

7 T. Lynn Smith, Brazil: People and Institutions (Louisiana:

Louisiana State University Press, 1963) , p. 510.

8 Ibid.

9 Ibid., p. -511.

10 M. Bergstrom Lourenco Filho, Education in Brazil (Rio de Janeiro:

Ministry of Foreign Relations, Departamento de Imprensa Nacional, 1951), p. 8.

H Wagley, p. 1. !2 Momsen, p. 8.

13 Wagley, p. 62. 27

CHAPTER III

SAO PAULO: THE HEART OF THE SOUTH

The city of Sao Paulo is located at 760 metres above sea level in the old regional plateau of the southeast of Brazil which is called the "planalto" and forms part of the State's "planalto Atlantico".1 It is situated between the latitudes of 20° and 25° south, andii^s considered privileged in terms of rainfall and humidity. The mean average temperature in Sao Paulo ranges from 68° to 73°F., which may be compared with the data given for Latvia in• dicating a mean near i*U°F. This is a direct indication of the variation between the more tropical characteristics of Brazil and the northern.climate of the Baltic region, with its seasonal variations and greater climatic ex• tremes .

The present location of Sao Paulo evolved as a result of several inter• esting geographical and exploration factors, including the intersection of the Tiete River and its tributaries the Tamanduatei and the Pinheiros, establishing a headquarters for the exploration of the interior by the

Bandeirantes,2 an abundance of arable land, ready access to the sea port of

Santos, and the energy and resources-suitable for industrial development. A factor contributing to the development of Sao Paulo was the large population influx in response to the extreme expansion in the coffee industry in the region towards theeend of the nineteenth century. As a result of the abolition of slavery in 1888, Sao Paulo stimulated immigration to fulfill new labour demands:

From 1886 to 1936, almost a million and a half immigrants, mainly Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, German and Slavic 28

people came to Sao Paulo. Since 1908 approximately 200,000 Japanese have entered Brazil, and the majority have come to Sao Paulo.3

A majority of these farm labourers eventually migrated into the industrial force within the city of Sao Paulo, making it a melting pot of European immigrants who have had a great influence on shaping the national culture of the 'paulistas'.

A description of the subdivision of the work force in Sao Paulo is presented in Table III along with additional aspects of the social makeup of Brazilian society. This information is directly comparable to that given in Table I for Latvian culture andiinference is drawn from these data in the assimilation discussion:

TABLE III

RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF THE OCCUPATIONAL CATEGORIES OF THE URBAN MALE LABOR FORCE IN THE CITY OF SAO PAULO AND THE DISTRIT0 FEDERAL, 1950^

Occupational category Percent of male labor force Sao Paulo Distrito Federal

Manufacturing, processing and construction Vf.3 22.6 Trade and commerce 16.0 15.9 Banking, real estate, credit and insurance 3.3 Service activities lh.2 18.0 Transportation, communication and storage 8.3 10.1 Liberal professions and auxiliary occupations 1.7 2.3 Social activities (teaching, social work, religious activities, etc.) 3.6 9-5 Public administration, legislation and justice 2.9 6.8 National defense, public security and related activities 2.7 10.5 29

Table IV gives statistics for total immigration to Brazil during the period 1881+-1957, classified according to the country of origin. From a total of 765jll3 immigrants, the number from the Baltic states was 33,578 of which only 2,209 originated in Latvia (28,665 from Lithuania). However, as of 1967 the total number of immigrant Latvians living in Brazil is reported to be from 5,000 to 6,000^ and estimated from this work, to be between 6,^00 and 9,000, as described more fully in the immigration chapter. Approximately

2,000 Latvians arrived in Brazil between 1890 and 191^, followed by 2,500 between 1922 and 1939, hut during the entire period after 19^5 the total amounted to a mere 900,6 the majority of whom live in Sao Paulo.

Of importance to the understanding of the consequences of Latvian im• migration to Brazil and assimilation into the Sao Paulo environment is the distribution and origin of the majority of the peoples comprising the populace of Brazil as a whole, and Sao Paulo in particular. The scarcity of data for individual Baltic nationalities makes this a difficult task,.and therefore estimates are made where data is lacking. These statistics, specifically relevant to the Latvian peoples (or those of Baltic origin), are detailed in the immigration section and the appendix. Therefore the information immediately following Is given for background information to 'set the scene' for as complete a treatment as possible from existing sources.

Brazil has one of the most complex racial mixtures of any country in the world, including almost all of the various stocks. The 1950 census recorded the following statistics according to colour:7

TABLE V Colour Number White• 32,027,661 Black 5,692,657 Yellow 329,082 Brown 13,786,7^2 Undeclared 108,255 TABLE IV

IMMIGRATION TO BRAZIL, 1881+-1957, ACCORDING TO COUNTRY OF ORIGIN5

Country of Origin Immigrants

Number Percent of total

Italy 1,510,078 31. 7 Portugal 1,1+57,617 30. 6 Spain 657,7^ 13. 8 Japan 209,181+ 1+.1 + Germany 192,57^ 1+.0 Russia 109,889 2.3 Austria 88,789 1.9 Turkey 78,706 1.7 Poland 53,555 1.1 France 1+1,1+95 0.9 Romania 1+0,271+ 0.8 United States 30,686 0.6 England 28,771 0.6 28,665 0.6 Argentina 25,6l6 0.5 Yugoslavia 2l+,109 0.5 Syria 23,113 0.5 Lebanon ll+,3l6 0.3 Hungary 13,218 0.3 The Netherlands 12,989 0.3 Switzerland 12.5U1 0.3 Uruguay 10,720 0.2 Greece 10,112 0.2 Belgium 7,1+92 0.2 Czechoslovakia 6,1+86 0.1 Sweden 5,51+3 0.1 Denmark 3,388 0.1 2.701+ .... 0.1 China 2,1+85 0.1 Chile 2,306 2.209 . . .. Peru 1,325 Other countries • -56.1UU 1.2 Total 1+, 765,113 100. 0 31

62% are of European origin, mainly Portuguese, 11% are negroes and 1% are

Indians; the remainder is composed of mestizos, divided into the 'mulatos'

("black and white), the 'caboclos' (a mixture of whites and Indians) and the

'S'cafusos1 (of black and Indian origin). From the late nineteenth century up to 1930, 3.3 million European immigrants arrived in Brazil, and contributed extensively to the cultural heritage. In the twentieth century, a large in• flux of Japanese, especially to the, Sao Paulo area, added a new ingredient to the racial types of Brazil, but the Caucasians have contributed the most to the biological makeup of the population. However, in spite of the varied multiracial origins of its peoples, Brazil has developed predominantly as a one-culture society. The official spoken language is Portuguese and although there is no designated official religion, almost 90% are Roman Catholics.

Table VI presents the population statistics for Brazil, South Brazil, the State of Sao Paulo and the city of Sao Paulo between the period of the

19^0 and 1950 census. The population is subdivided into Brazilian Born,

Naturalized Brazilians, Foreigners and Other Nationalities. The percentage of both rural and urban location of the population is also shown.- This may be compared with the figures in Table VIII for theppercentage of urban and rural Latvian population.

Table VII gives immigration statistics for Brazil from 1920 to 1950 and for Sao Paulo from 1920 to 1936 and illustrates the percentage of the total population residing in Sao Paulo. The average was approximately 50 to 60% throughout this period. The effect of limiting the number of immigrants in

193^ is reflected in the data. The accompanying histograms illustrate the ethnic makeup of the immigrants and theppercentage settling in Sao Paulo.

Estimates for 1968 show a total population of 9^-5 million in Brazil with . TABLE VI

POPULATION STATISTICS8

Date Location Brasileiros Natos Naturalizados Estrangeiros Other Nationalities Total 19 UO Brazil 50, Brazil 19^0 52,61*5,1+79 31 Dec. 1950 50,727,113 11*8,897 1,085,287 51,976,359 = 1,0C*,776 = 16,982 282,705 = 1,305,720 m= 665,^62 * 19 * 198 w= 61*0,258 + 1,257 Sul 191*0 31 Dec. 1950 m= 1*67,129 m= 8,91+2 m= 123,903 m= 276 m= 600,250 w= 1*62,206 6,373 w= 112,975 w= 269 581,823 Sao Paulo State I9U0 7,180,316 31 Dec. 1950 m= 52,833 m= 3,71+3 m= 89,587 m= 7^ m= ll*6,237 53,163 w= 2,792 82,565 w= 116 w= 138,636 1 July 1950 9,21*2,610 9,13^,1+23 Sao Paulo City 191*0 31 Dec. 1950 2,01*1,716 1 July 1950 316,580 2,017,025 Greater * Minority European Groups S.P. City = Non-Portuguese Speaking (at home) 19^0 KEY + No Declaration of Nationality 31 Dec. 1950 m Men 2,227,572 w Women 2,198,096 IMMIGRATION TO BRAZIL AND SAO PAULO

YEAR TO BRAZIL TO SAO PAULO ANNUAL IMMIGRATION TO BRAZIL AND Total Total % of Total SAO PAULO (1871+-19391

1920 71,027 32,028 U5.1 1921 60,8kh 32,678 53.7 1922 66,967 31,281 1+6.7 1923 86,697 1+5,21+0 52.2 192k 98,125 56,085 57.2 thousands 1925 81+,883 57,^29 67.7 1926 121,569 76,796 63.2 225 V 1927 101,568 61,607 6O.7 200 J. 1928 82,061 1+0,81+7 1+9.8 1929 100,1+21+ 53,262 53.0 1930 7l+,i+20 30,921+ 1+1.6 1931 2l+,056 16,216 67.I+ 1932 3l+,683 17,1+20 50.2 1933 1+8,812 33,680 69.O 193U 50,368 30,757 6l.l 1935 35,913 21,131 58.8 1936 1 1M5I+ 1937 3l+,677 12,381+ 35-7 1938 19,388 1939 22,668 1875 1885 1895 1905 1915 1925 1935 I9I+O 18,1+1+9 19^1 9,938 19^2 2,1+25 19^3 1,308 191+1+ 1,593 •* To Brazil i9*+5 3,168 «* To Sao Paulo 191+6 13,939 19^7 18,753 191+8 21,568 191+9 23,81+1+ !950 3l+,691 3^

more than k0% under the age of lk and a growth rate of 2.7% per year, one of the highest in the world.10 This growth rate has increased from the 1958 estimate of 2.k%i:L showing a population of 83,719,000 in 1970 and 105,527,000 by 1980 which will surely be surpassed. 35

CHAPTER III: NOTES

1 A.N. Ab'Saber, "Sao Paulo: 0 Chao, 0 Clima e as Aguas" in Sao Paulo,

Espirito, Povo e Instituigoes, by J.V. Freitas Marcondes and 0. Pimentel

(Sao Paulo: Livraria Pioneira Editora, 1968), p. 13.

2 Sources for this note include: J. Cortesao, Introdugao a Historia das Bandeiras (Lisboa: Portugalia Ed., 196k), II; A. Ellis Jr., 0 Bandeirismo

Paulista e o Recub Meridiano (Sao Paulo: Typografia Piratininga, 1923), pp.

105, 195; Cassiano Ricardo, Marcha para o Oeste (Rio de Janeiro: Ed. da

Universidade de Sao Paulo, 1970).

3 Charles Wagley, An Introduction to Brazil (New York: Columbia

University Press, 1971), P> 69.

^ T. Lynn Smith, Brazil: People and Institutions (Louisiana:

Louisiana State University Press, 1963), p. 612.

5 Ibid., p. 126.

6 J. Rutkis, Latvia: Country and People (Stockholm: Latvian National

Foundation, 1967), p. 326.

7 T. Lynn Smith, "The People of Brazil and their Characteristics",

Modern Brazil, ed. J. Saunders (Florida: University of Florida Press, 1971), p. 5^-

8 Sources include: Conselho Nacional de Estatistica, Brazil: Censo

Demografico, serie nacional, Vol. I (Rio de Janeiro: IBGE, 1956), p. 1^;

Anuario Estatrstico do Brazil, Populacao (Rio de Janeiro; 1971), P> 115;

Conselho Nacional de Estatrstica, Sinopse Preliminar do Censo Demografico,

Recenseamento Geral do Brasil, 1 de Julho de 1950 (Rio de Janeiro: Servigo Grafico do Instituto de Geografia e Estatistica, 1951), pp. 29-30.

9 T. Lynn Smith, Brazil: People and Institutions, p. 12l+.

1° Information Department of the Brazilian Embassy, Brazil (London

The Lavenham Press Ltd., 1972), p. 23.

H Cultural Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Brazil

(Rio de Janeiro, 1958), p. 7°- SECTION B

LATVIAN EMIGRATION AND IMMIGRATION 38

CHAPTER IV

LATVIAN MIGRATIONS: REASONS AND CONDITIONS FOR EMIGRATION

"The most common reasons fog? emigration are economic circumstance,

adventure, political defeat, group salvation and group solidarity."1 During

the period of interest, the early and mid-twentieth century, the major driving

force for extensive Latvian emigration above that normally experienced by any nation was politically motivated. During this century, as a direct consequence of both World Wars, and subsequent occupation, the Latvians became a part of the large number of refugees seeking to retain their independence and freedom.

Global Latvian emigration statistics for this period are presented in Table

VIII, and according to a 1953 estimate^ the total global Latvian population at that time was only 2.5 million. Table VIII is not intended to give a com• plete assessment of Latvian emigration, but to illustrate a summary of the number and dispersion of Latvians on a world-wide scale (Table XIX gives population figure's for Latvia).

TABLE VIII

LATVIAN EMIGRATION STATISTICS3

Number Destination Year(s)

3,399 U.S.A. 1921-1930 519 " 1931-1936 20,000 Australia by Dec. 1951 17,800 (89%) " 19W-1950 19,600 (.97%) " 19^7-1951 5,000 Denmark 19J+6 115,000 Sweden I9I+6 30,000 U/S./A. 1950 15,000 Canada 1950 20,000 Australia 1950 15,000 Great Britain 1950 20,000 Germany 1950 20,000 Other South American and 1950 European countries 39

TABLE-. VIII Continued

6 to 9,000 Brazil...... „ I89O-I967*

2,500,000 Global population 1953

*(Estimates from research carried out for this thesis. )

A social-psychological study of Latvian immigrants in Canberra,

Australia^ is one of the very few studies concentrating solely on Latvians involving descriptive social and assimilation data. The majority of this migration occurred during 19^9 and 195° (totalling 20,000 by 1951) and had virtually ceased by 1953:

Previous studies of Latvians in Australia were limited to two student investigations (Lejejes, 196I+ and Miculis, 1958) and two community surveys (Baitaks, i960 and Jurevies, 196l). The Latvians have however been lumped with other Baltic re• fugees (Zubrzycki, 196k), with Lithuanians (Taft, 1965, p. 6l) or studied as Displaced Persons (Martin, 1965; Murphy, 1952a, 1952b; Stadulis, 1952). There are a few studies of Latvians in North America (Veidemanis, 196l, 1962, 1963; Skreija, 1965 and Radziw, 1965)-^

Emigration may, in general, be classified into categories of voluntary and involuntary or exile. In this respect the majority of Latvians proceeded as individuals with some minor collective or group migration; however there was also a degree of involuntary exile within the confines.of the new political state. Despite the lower percentage of the resident Latvian population being in urban centres (see Table i) there is evidence that during this period in history the majority of the emigrants were from the Latvian towns and cities and comprised the better educated. This era may be con• trasted with the initial Latvian immigrant population that settled in Brazil in the late nineteenth century. They were of agricultural and agrarian back• ground and, in founding a new society in colonies, one of which was Varpa, retained this form of life despite a lowering of social and economic standards 1+0

in numerous cases, because of the prevailing conditions in rural Sao Paulo

state. These first immigrants to Brazil were seeking new economic and re•

ligious freedom, the latter also being a dominant factor in post-Second

World War migration.

Table IX5 gives the Latvian population statistics for the period from

1897 to 19^3 including the subdivision of the total population into native

.Latvians and the percentage of urban and rural. From 1920 to 19^3 the total

number of native Latvians increased from l,l6l,Uol+ to l,lj-lj-U,525 which was

approximately a proportional increase from 72.8% to 80.1% of the country's

total population. In the aftermath of the two World Wars there was a dramatic

decrease in total population. The 19ll+ population maximum of 2,552,000 was

reduced almost 1 million by 1920 and never again reached this level. The 1939

level, 2,001,900, was reduced to 1,803,10U by 191+3 due in major part to war,

and emigration.. Table IX also shows the average percentage of rural popula•

tion to be approximately 65% and establishes Latvia to be a predominantly

agricultural society. This proved to be one of the main reasons for early

Latvian choice of settlement in Brazil's rural agricultural areas as pre•

dicted by Malves in 19l6 (.©hapterpVe),^ and was not detrimental to immigration

in the post-1938 period which required 80% of all Brazilian immigrants to be

of agrarian background. TABLE IX

POPULATION STATISTICS: LATVIA

Year Total Population Latvians Percentage Urban Urban Rural Number of Year ' of total pop. " Percentage " Emigrants

1897 1,929,387 ? .' ? - 565,530 29.h 1,362,857

191k 2,552,000 1,016,000 1+0.3 1,506,000

1920 1,596,131 l,l6l,l+0l+ 72.8 ' 3lk,126 23.6 1,221,271+

1925 1,881+, 805 1,35^,126 73.^ 90,789 (l?2? 1921+) x930 662,877 31+.9 1,237,168 1935 1,950,502 1,1+72,612 75.5 675,282 3I+.6 1,275,220 1939 2,001,900

191+3 1,803,101+ 1,1+1+1+,525 80.1 579,701 32.2 1,223,1+03

(Natural population growth rate per 1000 inhabitants is l+.l.)

H h2

CHAPTER IV: NOTES

1 J. Norris, Strangers Entertained (Vancouver: Evergreen Press Ltd.,

1971), P. h.

2 E. Andersons, Cross Road Country, Latvia (Iowa: Ed. Dobelis,

Latvju Gramata, 1953), p. 135. '

3 Sources include: 'F.J. Brown and J.S. Roucek, Our Racial and

National Minorities (New York: Prentice-Hall Inc., 1937), p. 10; I.

Jaunzems and L.B. Brown, "A Social-Psychological Study of Latvian Immi• grants in Canberra", ICEM, International .Migrations, Vols. I/II, 1972, p. 53;

A. Spekke, Latvia and the Baltic Problem (London: Latvian Information

Bureau, 1952), p. 78; Andersons, Cross Road Country, Latvia, p. 135.

^ Jaunzems and Brown, p. 53.

5 Andersons, Cross Road Country, Latvia, pp. 359-361, and National

Bureau of Economic Research, International Migrations (New York, 1929), p. -78U. ^3

CHAPTER V

LATVIAN IMMIGRATION TO BRAZIL

Statistics are in general lacking for the entire period covering the

Latvian immigration to Brazil. In particular, during the years 1890 to 1970 data has been collected in order to assess the total number of Latvians in

Brazil, and also the approximate number in Sao Paulo during the post-Second

World War period.

It has been reported that the Latvian periodical Latviesu Kolonijas published in Riga in 1938, estimated that there were approximately 6,000 to

8,000 Latvians in Brazil prior to that date. It is also estimated that about

1,500 Latvians arrived after the Second World War. Despite these figures, more recent data suggests that the post-war figure is in excess of 12,000 and could be as high as 15,000 (including dependents).

The newspaper 0 Estado de Sao Paulo, in 1959 reported that in 19^0 of

50,628 immigrants to Brazil U,280 were Latvians and Estonians. The'Estonian newspaper in Sao Paulo, Meie Tee, in 1958 reported 6,216 Latvian immigrants in the State of Sao Paulo to that date, 3,102 residing in the city and 3>11^ in the rural areas. These figures should be considered only as approximate since the newspaper's estimate of the 19^0 Baltic State population in Sao

Paulo is 30,51^ whereas the Institute of Geography and Statistics for Brazil gives 20,215- The rate of growth and the number of births from Baltic origin families did not contribute to the statistics for the Baltic nationality in

Brazil since the children were considered Brazilian citizens in the census.

In 1967 a German monthly journal, Baltische Briefe, indicates that there were approximately 8,000 Latvian adults and 2,500 youths in the State of Sao 1+1*

Paulo at that time. Table X gives a summary of the available literature

cited with respect to Latvian immigration to Brazil during the period between

1890 and 19T0. Supplementary data for the other Baltic countries is also

presented as a guide to establishing estimates for periods in which Latvian

data is lacking or has not been located. As a supplement to the table, stat•

istics for short intervals within this period are also presented in order to

fill the gaps in theyyearly data. Estimates in the literature vary markedly,

placing the total number of Latviansimmigrants in Brazil as high as 95500

with the most agreement being between 6,000 and 9,000. These estimates are

more fully discussed in connection with Table XII in which an attempt is

made to classify the material into five-year periods. Table X presents a

summary of various estimates of Latvian immigration to Brazil and Sao Paulo.

Although the estimate of Latvian immigrants after 1890 approximates 6,000 to

9,000, there Is evidence to show that the total number of Latvians including

dependents in Brazil would approximate between 13,000 and 18,000. A rather

complete analysis of the statistical data available is given in the appendix

of this thesis, which should be referred to as a supplement to the immigration

statistics discussion in the text. For ease of reference, several of the

tables for this section have been duplicated and also appear in the appendix.

' LATVIAN RELIGIOUS SUBDIVISIONS IN SAO PAULO

The outline of the religious denominations of the Latvian native com•

munity-enumerated in Table I of Chapter I shows approximately 1% (or 12,000)

Baptists and approximately 55% (or 1,075,000) Lutherans. However, there is

evidence1- that a large percentage of the Latvian immigrants to Brazil in the

early part of the twentieth century was of Baptist background. Religious *5

TABLE X

LATVIAN IMMIGRATION TO BRAZIL AND SAO PAULO: TOTALS

Reference Period involved Total number of immigrants

International 1820 - 1926 331 Migrations

1890 - 191U 2,000 ) 191k - 1922 ) Rutkis 1922 - 1939 2,500 ) 5,^00 1939 - 19^5 ) I9I15 -(196T) 900 ) Smith lQ&k-r- 1957 2,209 S.P. State

Andersons 1886 - 1953 2,000 S.P. State 30,000 including des• cendants

Rudzitis Up to 19^0 (k,280 LLatvians + (0 Estado de S.P.) Estonians Rudzitis Up to 1938 6,000-8,000 (Latviesu Kolonijas) Up to.

Rudzitis 19^6 -(post war) 1,500 1960's Rudzitis Up to I960*s 12,000-15,000 (including descendants)

Rudzitis Up to 1958 i>%\-£ (3,102 city of S.P. ) (Meie Tee) b'21b '(3,llU rural S.P. )

Rudzitis Up to 1967 8,000 adults (Baltische Briefe) 2,500 children

1916 - 1923 1,750 (Varpa) Ronis Up to 1953 1,1+82 Baptists Up to 1972 1,072 "

Table XXII 19I16 - 195U 65^ TABLE XI

GRAPHICAL ESTIMATES OF LATVIAN IMMIGRATION TO BRAZIL AND SAO PAULO Reference

19 X Rutkis 1 o Smith 3 a International Migrations 8 A Andersons 16 0 Rudzitis (Latviesu Kolonias) 11 a Rudzitis (Meie Tee) 20 + Rudzitis

T i 1 —i— 1 1 1 r 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970

Date hi

TABLE XII-

ESTIMATES OF THE NUMBER OF LATVIAN IMMIGRANTS ENTERING BRAZIL AND HISTORICAL EVENTS DURING THE PERIOD 1890-1970

8000 1

7150

•H N rt 6250 u PQ 60 C •H M 0) •U a w e rt n •H 3750

C rt •H > 4J rt 2000 o )-<

1970

St l WORLD WAR 2nd WORLD WAR

Unknown number of Latvian Immigrants during this period

x Estimates by Rutkis

M Overlap in immigrant data k8

freedom and search for better agricultural land conditions and opportunities directed the Latvian emigration towards Brazil and specifically to the States of Sao Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Caterina. Between the years of

1890 and 19ll+ they formed rural agricultural communities widely dispersed from the urban centres in accordance with the immigration policies existing during that period in Brazil. A major reason for the immigration of Latvians to Brazil was the visit to Brazil in 1888 of two Latvian university graduates,

Karlis Balodis and Peteris Sahlitis, who aimed to evaluate the advantages to be offered by this new country for potential Latvian agricultural immigrants.

Their positive findings were described in two Latvian publications, Baltijas

Wehstnesis (The Baltic Messenger) edited in Riga in 1889, and followed by a short book, Brazilija (Brazil), published in 1890.2 These articles described

Brazil favourably in terms of agriculture, climate and liberal government favouring ethnic self-determination. However, the optimism of these reports was not entirely fulfilled upon reaching Brazil due in part to the housing conditions and wildness of the interior. This created a driving force for their redistribution both in and outside Brazil and their urbanization in the following few decades. One of the well established Latvian communities in the State of Sao Paulo, Nova Odessa, was founded in 1906. Julio Malves was instrumental in creating the First Latvian Baptist Church and the core of this community.3

With the international political unrest around 19lk, Julio Malves pub• lished a paper in 19l6 predicting a large exodus of Latvians to Brazil to seek safety from oppression':

Because of all of the calamities, as soon as all of the communication systems have been reestablished a huge exodus will begin . . . and they should not fail to find h9

refuge in Brazil. The war however, began again so suddenly that these plans, as we all know, could not be put into practice. . . . and as this occurred, there would be a daily contribution towards the Evangelization of the new adopted country . ... in the divine plans for the salvation of the world Brazil is also included. . . .^

By 1922 in the aftermath of the First World War, Latvians emigrated for political,andlrqlmgdious reasons, and for reasons of personal safety, seeking

freedom and prosperity in Brazil. This resulted in the largest immigrant

Latvian Baptist colony in the world, called Varpa, situated in the virgin interior in the State of Sao Paulo. At this time the community was composed of 1,750 members, and included one of the. fourteen Baptist churches already established in Brazil.5

In 1923 the first Latvian Baptist church was founded in the city of

Sao Paulo. By 1926 it had approximately 100 members with activities limited to morning and evening services (cultos dominicais e cultos vespertinos) and a female choir.^ It continued to develop with increased youth participation

from inclusion of Brazilians and other ethnic origins.

During the period of the Second World War the Latvian Baptists in Brazil were not afforded the opportunity of uniting in their traditional meetings and

assemblies. With the termination of the War the following conditions existed within the Latvian churches. The spiritual level was found unsatisfactory and the influx of Latvian war refugees reinforced the necessity to maintain the

Latvian culture within the church, and to create a fund for assistance of

Latvian refugees in Europe. Importance was placed on retaining a link with the Latvian Baptists in the United States and reporting religious literature

in the Latvian language, especially musical material no longer readily available

from European sources. Emphasis was also put on restructuring missionary work.^ 50

It was evident that these matters could best be resolved through the unity of the Latvian Baptists in Brazil, and through the formation of Latvian missionary conferences and the organization of The Association of Latvian

Baptist Churches in Brazil. •

The oldest Latvian Lutheran community was also located in the state of Sao Paulo at Nova Odessa and founded in 1906; it was formed from approx• imately thirty families which originated primarily in Ufa and the Urals;of

Russia.^ Janis Mezgravis, the minister, conducted the first Lutheran service in Brazil in 1908; however, it was originally given in German and translated by Mezgravis. A Latvian Lutheran publication from Windau in Latvia by the minister Theodore Grunberg, Evangeliuma Gaisma, was instrumental in aiding the development of Lutheran theology in Brazil.9 After the death of the minister in 1931 there was a period of little development of the Lutheran mission until the po:st-war era in 19h6. Karlis Briedis was instrumental in purchasing a house to be used as a Latvian Lutheran church facility in 1950, which was blessed in April, 1951 upon the arrival of new Latvian minister

Jekabs Mekss in Sao Paulo. This initiated the first truly Latvian language service in the Lutheran church. 51

CHAPTER V: NOTES

1 Osvaldo Ronis, Uma Epopeia de Fe: Historia dos Batistas Letos no

Brasil (Rio de Janeiro: Casa Publicadora Batista, 197^), p. 8U.

2 Ibid., p. 106.

3 Ibid., p. 157-

^ Julio Malves, "A Localizagao dos Batistas Letos no Brasil", 0 Jornal

Batista, XVI, No. 27, 13 de julho de 1916, p. 6:

5 Em virtude de todas estas calamidades, comegara o exodo em grandes proporcoes logo que as vias de comunicagao estejam mais os menos restabelecidas . . . estes nao diexariam de. se refugiar no Brasil. A guerra todavia, precipitou-se tao repentinamente, que estes pianos, como todos sabemos, de forma alguma podiam ser postos em pratica. . . . E a medida que isto suceder, eles dia a dia irao contribuindo mais para a evangelizagao da nova patria adotada . . . Nos pianos divinos da salvagao do mundo esta. tambem incluido o Brasil. . . . •

^RRonis, pp.- 191 and 2k6.

6 Ibid., p. 397-

7 Ibid., p. i+09.

8 Jekabs Mekss, Latvijas Ev. Lut. Baznicas Macitajs Brazil!ja, 1957

(Latvian Minister in Sao Paulo; private communication).

9 "Comunidade Luterana Leta de Sao Paulo", Sinbdo Evangelico do Brasil

Central, 1962, p. 16. SECTION C

THE BRAZILIAN ASSIMILATION OF LATVIAN IMMIGRANTS 53

CHAPTER VI

GENERAL ASSIMILATION IN BRAZIL AND SAO PAULO

For the purposes of this study, social or cultural assimilation shall be regarded as adaptation of the immigrant to the social and physical en•

vironment of the host country. In general, the more critical aspects in•

volve the basic attributes, including race, creed and colour, all of which

have distinct characteristics. In addition the cultural evolution within

the homeland's geographical environment is extremely important to adjustment

and acclimatization, with thepperiod required for this process being longer

in the areas of greatest dissimilarity. An immigrant cannot be regarded as

being assimilated until he is fully acclimatized to the new environment.

To become fully adapted to the new situation the immigrant must establish

and maintain a stable reciprocal relationship with the environment - this

includes the human, social or interpersonal aspects. This assimilation

should not be forced or rushed.

The National Institute of Immigration and Settlement^ for Brazil

recommends in Article 38:

The aim of immigrant assimilation shall be the adjustment of the settler to Brazilian life, particularly by famili• arization with the language of the country and adapting him to Brazilian customs and usages but without prejudice to such of his existing cultural values as do not conflict with the traditional basis of the Brazilian social structure.

A brief description of the evolution of Brazilian immigration to Sao

Paulo and the initial stages of cultural assimilation is now given, in

preparation for a detailed discussion of the Latvian situation. 5h

Late in the nineteenth century, cultural assimilation was readily ex• perienced by the German and Japanese immigrants to Sao Paulo, evidenced by smooth and complete integration. This was aided by a display of hospitality and a lack of cultural subdivision or stratification in the character of the

Portuguese-Brazilian culture. In general there was little restraint to freedom of movement, restriction to religious practice, or demonstration of social or racial prejudice. This may be contrasted with the period immediately following the First World War which saw drastic changes implemented in the

Brazilian and European social framework. The relative improvements in the wellbeing of the European working class in their native countries and the higher standard of living, decreased the emigration of the previous large number and the adventurous spirit of those entering Brazil. As a consequence, the emigrant was more critical of the deficiencies and the standard of living in the new environment, resulting in greater difficulty in assimilation.

This effect was compounded by the restrictions implemented by the Vargas government and applied to immigration in the 1930's, as discussed previously in the third section of Chapter II. This trend is also evident from the post-

193^ statistics reported in Table VII (page 33). This restriction was most strongly reflected in the inability of the immigrant to participate freely with equal status in community life.

Of equal importance, the onset of economic inflation in Brazil and

the spread of totalitarian policies in Europesboth enhanced the difficulties encountered in normal cultural assimilation. The latter influence was lessened only after the Second World War.^

Segregation was not as evident in Sao Paulo State as in the south; assimilation was more complete as a result of greater industrialization and 55

urbanization. As a matter of fact, this was a direct consequence of immigra• tion and settlement in the State of Sao Paulo, population data for which, between 1827 and 1939, follows:3

TABLE XIII

Nationality Number

Italians 9^5,963 Portuguese 1+25,5^6 Spaniards 387,117 Japanese 186,769 Austrians 38,112 Other 317,7^7 Nationality Unknown 138,226 Total 2,1139,^90

A direct consequence of urbanization was a "more rapid and complete assimila• tion that Cin1 the 'inferior' rural culture. The participation of immigrants in the process of industrialization may be•demonstrated by a sample taken from the statistical yearbook of Sao Paulo. Out of 71^ industrial enter• prises of various type(s), 521 were owned by immigrants or descendants of immigrants, as thennames of the proprietors clearly showed."^

Industrialization accelerated social divisions among the immigrants and their descendants especially within the urban society. This situation also created a greater awareness of an upper class society which attempted to ob• tain both, political and economic control because of the greater influence of this society in general, as opposed to the previous non-industrial control exerted within the local community. A more complete assimilation with the upper class structure occurred, aided in large part by the urban educational institutions, political systems and intermarriages between upper class families irrespective of ethnic origin. This latter aspect of assimilation, intermarria 56

was not solely a direct consequence of industrialization or urbanization, "but rather resulted from the common bond of wealth which acted as the connecting link between families that might not otherwise have associated with one another.

The industrialization of Sao Paulo produced a strong attraction for all segments and ethnic groups previously comprising the rural population. The period between the First and Second World Wars in Sao Paulo saw the emergence of a class of wage earners (lower class), who placed more emphasis on the struggle for class identity and unity than on maintenance of individual cultural backgrounds. Close residential proximity, equality of educational opportunity, and formation of government-controlled trade unions linked more closely people from different cultural backgrounds and dispelled some of the racial and social differences. The degree of intermarriage in this lower class exceeded that in the upper class society:

There is little doubt that, so far as urban society is con• cerned, traditional values brought over by immigrants and preserved by their descendants found their greatest strong• hold in the middle class. Confined to local interests, and closely integrated into the parish and the rather flourishing associational life of the community, the members of this class found little reward in substituting new values for the traditional ones.5

To this class there was little economic, political or status advantage found in the other two classes, and consequently the driving forces for assimilation were not as active or strong. In general there was a preference for retaining their native language and family ethnic lineage, while adopting the Portuguese language and culture more slowly.

It is apparent that assimilation as a whole increased at an accelerating rate. This is especially true for Sao Paulo in comparison to the South. The development of the various social classes and their assimilation is related to the degree of industrialization, urbanization and general social mobility. 57

CHAPTER VI: NOTES

1 A.H. Neiva and M. Diegues Jr., "The Cultural Assimilation of

Immigrants in Brazil", The Cultural Integration of Immigrants, ed. 1959

United Nations: a UNESCO Conference held in Havana in April, 1956, p. 233.

2 rbid-> PP- 181-186.

3 E. Willems, "immigrants and their Assimilation in Brazil", Latin

American Migrations, iii World Migration in Modern Times, ed. Franklin D.

Scott (New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968), p. 66.

^ Ibid., p. 67.

5 Ibid., p. 69. 58

CHAPTER VII

LATVIAN ASSIMILATION

The Latvian immigration to Brazil was conditioned and strongly in•

fluenced by the church (especially the Baptist and Lutheran churches) as

initially presented in Chapter II. The religious ties played an important

part in keeping the Latvian national culture alive. One of the largest

Latvian Lutheran community groups in the city of Sao Paulo was formed in 19^6

and became well developed in 19^+9 under the supervision of 0. Biks.e who in•

stituted a search in the European community for a Latvian Lutheran minister.

With the arrival of Jekabs Mekss in 1951» there was an initiation of intense

community involvement in both religious and daily social matters. Within the

following five years the membership grew from approximately l6h to 320 members

with a budget increase from.10,000 to 50,000 cruzeiros.1 This Lutheran com•

munity was annexed to the World Lutheran Federation, (Federacao Mundial

Lutherana) and also to the Evangelical Synod of Central Brazil (Sinodo

Evangelico do Brasil Central). As a result of the extreme physical limits

of the city of Sao Paulo (by this time the metropolitan area was approximately

50 kilometres in diameter), and the poor transportation and communication net• work, it was very difficult for the community to retain a closely-knit unity.

The organizing and wornens1 committees were able to acquire both local funding

and international aid from the aforementioned organizations' sufficient to

construct a church, parochial residence and community hall in Brooklin, one

of the nicest residential areas in the city of Sao Paulo. On the occasion of the silver anniversary of the ordination of the minister Mekss, who was later appointed the official Brazilian representative of the Latvian 59

archbishop Grunberg, the festivities were attended by a large number of

clerical representatives from throughout Sao Paulo and the proceedings were

conducted in five different languages.2 This is an illustration of the in•

terest shown by the 'paulista' community in the affairs of the Latvian

Lutheran sector and a reciprocal willingness of the Latvians to accommodate

the understanding of the other language groups demonstrating an interest in

their affairs. Even with Latvian emigration from Sao Paulo to the United

States, the Lutheran community in 1962 still had 260 members and had re•

tained the Womens' Auxiliary Committee and continued to receive grants from

the Federacao Mundial Lutherana.

The other dominant sector of the Latvian immigrant community that is well documented, the Baptists, contributed to their assimilation in 1936 by

joining the Baptist Latvian church with the Sao Paulo Baptist Convention

(Convencao Batista Paulistana) in Sao Paulo. This was a distinct effort to

integrate themselves into the Brazilian Baptist family. One of the more

active ministers was Joao Lukass, who emphasized religious teaching of both

Brazilian children and adults through Sunday Bible Schools (Escolas Biblicas

Dominicais). This resulted in a very strong congregation of 95 members, both

Brazilian and Latvian, for which the Latvian Baptist church in Sao Paulo bought land and constructed a church in 1957-3 Part of Lukass' theological programme involved social assistance for needy people, and provided assistance for Latvian refugees arriving in Sao Paulo. The Baptist Latvian church pro• moted youth choir music which was extended also to the Brazilians through

Latvian choir participation in Brazilian churches, schools and on radio programmes, and aid in helping Brazilian churches form choirs. The develop• ment of religious music in the Latvian Baptist church promoted the influx of 6o

many Latvian youths from rural areas to the capital of the state. Many later joined the conservatories in Sao Paulo. Similar to the programmes initiated by Mekss in the Lutheran church, the Baptists created a women;'s committee,

Escola Biblica Dominical as well as a youth union. Throughout the history of the Baptist church in Sao Paulo, an approximate membership number was,370 and it is believed that in 1959 the number rose to ^09. In 1972 the latest statistics published by the Congress of the Association of the Baptist Latvian

Churches of Brazil (Congresso da Associagao das Igrejas Batistas Letos do

Brasil) show the number of members to be 26l in Sao Paulo headed by minister

Andre Arajs.^

Table XIV describes the composition and activities of the Latvian

Baptist Church Association in 1953 in Brazil. Data for the s.ame year showing the denominations of the Protestant church estimates a total of 1,065,333 members, of which 582,000 belong to the various Lutheran groups while 109,638 belong to the Baptist Convention. Statistics for 196l give a breakdown of the locations and number of Baptist church members for Brazil. The Baptist denomination increased between 1953 and 1961 to a total of 186,595 of which

26,370 belonged to the Sao Paulo area. TABLE XIV

LATVIAN CHURCH COMPOSITION AND ACTIVITIES IN BRAZIL5

Association of the Latvian Baptist Churches of Brazil Number of Communicants in Protestant Churches (1953 data) in Brazil, by Denomination (1953)

Number of Churches enrolled in the Association 7 Assembly of God (Pentecostal) 200,000 Number of members of churches in the Baptist Convention 109,638 Association 1,W2 Episcopal Church 7,500 Schools (Biblicas Dominicais) 7 Evangelical Lutheran Church 82,000 ) Students in Schools 777 Independent Presbyterian Church 17,000 ) Choirs 7 Methodist Church 37,000 ) Choir members 213 Presbyterian Church 67,695 ) Orchestras 6 Reformed Christian Church 5,000 ) Orchestral Musicians 13^ Synodical Federation (.Lutheran) 500,000 ) Youth Unions 7 Union of Congregational Churches 13,000 Youth Union members 276 Others 26,500 Women' s Organizations 1.6*5' Women members l62 Total 1,065,333

^Lutheran Location and number of Baptist Church Members in Brazil^ (1961)

Rio de Janeiro Field 73,997 Sao Paulo Field 26,370 Baiano Field 12,185 Evang. Pernambuco 12,000 Espirito Santo Field 9,231* Capixaba Field 8,530 Mineiro Field 7,076 Parana Field 6,562 Rio Grande do Sul Field !+,159 Ass. Pernambucano 3,577 Estado Minas 3,1+08 Total (including the other states) 186,595 62

CHAPTER VII: NOTES

x Jekabs Mekss, Latvijas Ev. Lut. Baznicas Macitaja Brazilija, 1957

(Latvian Lutheran Minister in Sao Paulo; private communication).

2 "Comunidade Luterana Leta de Sao Paulo", Siriodo Evangelico do

Brasil Central, 1962, p. 16.

3 Osvaldo Ronis, Uma Epopeia de Fe: Historia dos Batistas Letos no

Brasil (Rio de Janeiro: Casa Publicadora Batista, I97U), p. 399.

^ Ibid. , p. 1+01.

5 Sources include: Ronis, pp. 1+11+-1+15; T. Lynn Smith, Brazil: People and Institutions (Louisiana: Louisiana State University Press, 1963), p. 511;

W.R. Read, New Patterns of Church Growth iii Brazil (Grand Rapids: Wm. B.

Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1965),_. p. 192. 63

CHAPTER VIII

CULTURAL AND SOCIAL INTEGRATION

LANGUAGE AND INTERMARRIAGE

The Latvian language has "been heard in Brazil for approximately 75

years,-*- originating initially from the Latvian capital, Riga, as well as throughout the country, from Latvian colonies in Russia and in more recent years from various other parts of the world including China. In the begin• ning the Latvian language was heard only in the southoof Brazil, and with time it was centralized in the State of Sao Paulo, and its capital, the City

of Sao Paulo. This occurred around 1906 when the city began to grow at an increased rate.

After the Second World War a large majority of the Latvian immigrants went to the Sao Pauibo area and to a lesser extent to the cities and districts of Santo Andre, Sao Caetano, Suzana, Sao Miguel Paulista, Osasco, Itapeserica, to the beach areas of Santos, Sao Vicente, Guaruja, Praia Grande, to the area of the Serra da Mantiqueira such as Campinas, Valinhos, Jundiai, Mojimirim and in the area of the Serra do Paranapiacaba such as Sao Roque and Sorocaba. This immigration to Brazil and migration within the country resulted in the almost complete disappearance of Latvian presence in the formerly established southern communities. The Latvian language was lost to the former areas but gained a new footing in the State of Sao Paulo. In some of these newer areas the

Latvian language is often heard in public places.

As a general rule, the Latvian women were the most instrumental in keeping the usage of their parent language alive. The men were predominantly involved in the Brazilian employment scene and used Portuguese in their daily 6h

work, whereas the women remained at home and preferred to communicate with

their children in Latvian. A minor side effect became apparent in a few

cases, which was that the Latvian influence on the in-house maids occasion•

ally resulted in their acquiring the Latvian language. The children became the strong link with the Brazilian customs and language and more readily

learned and adopted the host culture. Within the school system, the children were compelled to become fluent and adept at instruction in the Portuguese

language. Therefore communication by the children with the parents tended to be in Portuguese despite efforts of the parents to retain the Latvian

language at least in the home. The emphasis onrpreserving Latvian culture

rested almost entirely with the older generation, while the newer became

increasingly integrated into Brazilian society.

Intermarriage between Latvians and Brazilian and other immigrant groups resulted from the scarcity of selection in their own race and daily encounters with the Brazilian population. The new generation Latvian-Brazilians tended to form friends and acquaintances in large part with Portuguese-speaking individuals, but did also retain and develop ties with other sectors of the immigrant population such as the Swiss, Germans, Spanish, Italians and other formerly European groups. In mixed marriages the spouse could often under• stand Latvian, having acquired a knowledge of it after marriage; however, they generally could not speak it. Therefore the main link of communication remained Portuguese. As a result, it was and still is very common to hear children speaking two or three languages at home. The large degree of intermarriage may be emphasized by the data from Table XV which illustrates that approximately f6% of the Latvian Lutherans in a single Sao Paulo church community intermarried between the years of 1956 and 197^. Although the total 65

number of recorded marriages during this period for the community in question

was only 29, with 22 intermarriages. It is anticipated that this trend of a

relatively high percentage of intermarriage occurred in the majority of the

urban and highly integrated areas. However, in the rural and more isolated

communities, there were closer ties among the Latvians and less integration

with the Brazilians, resulting in a much lower intermarriage ratio. Spacial

distribution within the closely knit rural units as opposed to that in the

sprawling city of Sao Paulo may have been a large contributing factor.

It has been speculated^ that more than half of the Latvian-Brazilians

living in Sao Paulo still speak Latvian, the non Latvian-speaking majority

of these being the children. In the period immediately following immigration,

language was one of the major factors that kept the society together and acted

as a common bond between Latvians that might not have normally associated with

each other if still in their homeland. As integration into Brazilian society

progressed, a large number of these established relationships with people of

similar social and occupational interests independent of their heritage, and therefore they continually withdrew from the Latvian ties. This was especially

apparent within the growing city <5f Sao Paulo, but did not in some cases de• tract from retention of Latvian pride and heritage within the family confines.

LANGUAGE!'1 LINGUISTICS1^

The Portuguese language was in general difficult for the Latvians to learn; however there are a few similarities in the intonation. Both have approximately the same pronunciation for the consonants such as: 1_, n_, s_ and z_, and in particular both languages do not utilize the phoneme h, as opposed to its usage in English and German. It is a remarkable coincidence that the 66

TABLE XV

STATISTICS FROM THE LATVIAN LUTHERAN CHURCH IN SAO PAULO (1951-1971)3 BIRTHS, CHRISTENINGS, COMMUNICANTS, MARRIAGES (INTERMARRIAGES), DEATHS

Year Births - Christenings C arnmun i c an t s Marriages Deaths

1951 2 _ 1 1952 2 19 2 1 1953 1 7 h 0 195^ 5 5 h 2 1955 6 2 1 1 1956 3 ih 1 (1) 7 i957 12 9 3 (2) k 1958 k 0 1 2 1959 8 5 2 (2) 3 I960 2 2 — 0 1961 5 0 2 (1) 2

1962 2 6 1 (D 1+ 1963 5 2 1 (D 1 1961+ 5 9 2 (1) 3 1965 0 0 2 (2) 5 1966 8 0 0 2 1967 2 2 (2) 3 1968 0 0 2 (1) 3 1969 2 0 1 (D 7 1970 2 1+ 3 (3) 0 1971 0 - 1 (D 5 1972 1 - 1 (D 2 1973 3 - 1 (D 6 197k 3 20 3 (D ? (1)

83 108 29 22 6U (76%)

These figures indicate that, from 1956 to 197^» the number of inter• marriages between the Latvian Lutheran community members residing in the city of Sao Paulo was 76%. 67

pronunciation of nearly all of the vowels is almost identical in both Latvian and Portuguese, especially o_ and e_. However, the nasal sounds in Portuguese are very difficult for the Latvians to master properly as they are for all other foreigners in Brazil. There are Latvians in Brazil today after more than a decade of residence in Sao Paulo who still have difficulty in this area, with the result that they will possibly always retain traces of the foreign accent and may never achieve a perfect Portuguese pronunciation.

Latvian and Portuguese have almost no words in common; however, some endings of words in both languages have similar pronunciation, for example:5

TABLE XVI

LATVIAN ENDING PORTUGUESE ENDING

Masc. Fern. Masc. Fern.

ins . ina inho inha

it is ite ito ita

In Brazil, many words were added to the Latvian language to describe existing indispensible Portuguese words or entities utilized in Brazilian daily life.

In general existing Portuguese words were adopted and the ending was changed according to the normal Latvian declension?}., for example:6

TABLE XVII

. , Portuguese, T , ;Latvian-„Adaptation., . English .Meaning • . Portuguese- .,5^.J^a Latvia . ^ + eS^y^- ^bvian. —^A^-L^O^ :-^JRI • mamao mamorii papaya mixirica misirikas tangerine abacaxi abakali.. pineapple mandioca mandioki mandioc feijoada feizoadu black bean dish churrasco surasks barbecued meat dish cachaca kasasu type of drink (alcoholic) pinga pinga rum-base drink 68

In addition to adaptation of Portuguese words for previously non-existent

Latvian words, there are many cases of adoption of the Brazil!an-Portuguese word for general usage where there was already an existing Latvian equivalent, for example:7

TABLE XVIII

Portuguese Adopted Latvian Original Latvian, English Meaning geladeira zeladeira ledus skapis refrigerator elevador elevators lifts, celtnis elevator liquificador likvi f ikadors skidimama mas ma food "blender disco disks skanu plat record cohra kohram cuskas snake namorar namoret milinaties to date (social)

The Latvian language is slowly being assimilated into Brazilian

Portuguese as a result of the many additions, only some of which have been tabulated. This has made it increasingly difficult for Latvians coming from both Latvia and other countries to Brazil to understand and be understood in the new environment. A few Latvian scholars in Brazil wrote books dealing with the Latvian and Portuguese languages. Vilis

Butlers, in the first decade of the twentieth century, wrote a book to teach the Latvians thePEortuguese language, and in 1906 Janis Gutmanis wrote a Portuguese-Latvian dictionary containing 2,000 words. Continuation of communication and literary writing was implemented through Latvian news• papers published in the State of Sao Paulo, one of the first being the

Lidumnieku, published by Julijs Malves followed later by the Biedrota.js and Graiids. 69

CUSTOMS AND ENVIRONMENT: ASSIMILATION

Because of the location and the great distance separating Brazil from other countries containing a large Latvian population such as Europe,

Australia and North America, there was little communication between these groups and the Brazilian Latvians. As a result they have learned to live and cope with the new environment with little external aid or influence.

General information and hooks concerning Latvian culture and information in Brazil are few in number and difficult to locate.

Social participation and the organization of festive events was common to both cultures, an example.of which is the June celebrations commonly ob• served in both countries and called June Festivals - Janu Svetki and Festas

Juninas respectively. Carnival, one of the major events in Brazil, lasts approximately four days- and involves singing, and dancing emphasizing

African rhythms. The intensity of the celebrations frightened some of the immigrants in their first years in Brazil; however, in a very short time they became an integral part of the celebrations. Especially in the

State of Sao Paulo they quickly joined the festivities in clubs and private parties.

A major drastic change for the Sao Paulo Latvians was observance of

Christmas at the height of summer andiin the absence of snow. However, with time they made the best of it, still retaining the traditional candles and Christmas trees, while using the good weather for shopping and partying.

The young Latvians found it necessary to adapt themselves to Brazilian customs with respect to dating and social activities often in a manner different from that experienced by their parents in Latvia. As a general rule it was characteristic to escort a Brazilian girl only in the company TO

of a chaperone and it was understood that the suitor was not to enter the

household of his girlfriend unless he was prepared to face the commitment

of an engagement for marriage. After marriage, in the event of discord

between the partners, there is no legal recourse for breaking the union

similar to the divorce proceedings in North America, but there is a

'desquite', or separation, after which it is illegal to remarry in Brazil.

There has been no shortage of food in Brazil throughout its history,

and in this respect the country was a haven during the European war years.

However, the type-of food was quite different from that to which the

Latvians were accustomed, but it did not create any real problems since

it was very nourishing, exotic and tasty. They were introduced to new

Brazilian dishes such as 'Vatapa' (fish paste), 'feijoada' (bean dish),

'churrasco' (barbecued meat) and many others. In the cosmopolitan atmos•

phere of the city of Sao Paulo they were also introduced to the foods of

many other immigrant nationalities, for example the Italian 'pizza' and

'polenta' and Japanese and Chinese dishes. The Latvians did not readily

abandon their own traditional dishes and cookery but these were partially

modified due to the absence of traditional Latvian ingredients such as

some berries and spices not indigenous to Brazil. However, the new-found

abundance and variety in Brazilian fruits, spices and other foodstuffs

made for a modification in diet and preparation of juices, berry preserves

and jams and newly adapted Latvian recipes.

The newness, abundance and wildness of the tropical and subtropical

vegetation was strange to the Latvian immigrant, although direct contact with nature was minimized in the city of Sao Paulo. They were however in

daily contact with new spe'cies of trees like the 'pinheiro' and 'jacaranda' 71

and with a large variety of new and different plants and flowers never seen in the northern climate of Latvia. A few flowers of world-wide distribu• tion, for example roses and gladiolas, were common to both countries. A major change in the species present was readily apparent because of the abundance of insects, mainly mosquitoes and flies. The large number of ants was also uncommon to the Latvians who now found it necessary to take additional precautions to protect food. During sojourns in the country the reptile population proved to be a new problem and care had to be taken against unfamiliar species of spiders, snakes and scorpions. The large city environment and the coastal beach areas were in general not subject to great difficulty in this respect, but still displayed the great beauty of the Brazilian topography, vegetation, birds and animals. 72

CHAPTER VIII: NOTES

1 L. Rudzitis, "Latviesu Valoda Brazilija", unpublished work, Brazil, p. 1.

2 Ibid., p. 3 •

3 Jekabs Mekss, private communication, Sao Paulo, 197^.

^ Rudzitis, p. 21.

5 Ibid.,

6 Ibid., p. 29-

7 Ibid. , pp. 28-30. 73

CONCLUSION

EXTENSION OF'LATVIAN INFLUENCE:

BRIEF COMPARISON BETWEEN SAO PAULO CITY AND SAO PAULO STATE

Despite the great degree of assimilation between Latvians in the city of Sao Paulo with the Brazilian community and other foreign influences, the maintenance of a Latvian heritage was fostered by retention of the Latvian language in religious services. This may be contrasted with the Latvian colonization in communities in Sao Paulo State. Unlike the capital of the state, and the North American colonies, the Latvian community of Varpa offered religious services in the language of the host country, Portuguese, making it within reach of allBBrazilians to attend and participate. This was of great importance in aiding the development of religion and the associated arts which were affiliated with the church in the interior.

Description and development of this area, although not strictly pertinent to the theme of this thesis, may be found in articles in 0 Jornal Batista.1

A MONUMENT TO THE LATVIAN IMMIGRANTS IN BRAZIL

The construction of a monument to the Latvian immigrants in Brazil is possibly unique to this immigrant people throughout the world. It was constructed in the interior of the State of Sao Paulo at Nova Odessa in

1956 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first Latvian colonization in Brazil. Latvians from the city and throughout the State came to the 7k event, which also involved a large contingent of Brazilians. The celebra• tions included.a Latvian parade demonstrating the folklore, culture and

lifestyle. The effects of assimilation and intermarriage were quite .t apparent from the different physical features in some of the Latvians ranging from dark-haired mestico to the original_Nordic blond. The Latvian

Lutheran minister from the City of Sao Paulo, J. Mekss, related the success that the Latvians had had in retaining their language and culture and, des• pite the integration and assimilation that would inevitably occur, would be as successful in the following fifty years in retaining the basic roots of the Latvian heritage. The occasion received a written compliment from the

Brazilian Sao Paulo State governor, Janio Quadros, as well as from other interested prominent Brazilians.2

GENERAL CONCLUSION AND INTERPRETATION

The primary purpose of the study was to establish the extent of Latvian immigration to Brazil and Sao Paulo and to describe the interaction with the urban Brazilian community. The degree of immigration and supportive statistic• al evidence presented indicates that there was a rather constant immigration of Latvians to Brazil numbering between kOO and 900 per five-year interval prior to the Second World War. During the post-war years this estimate is somewhat reduced to approximately 200 to 300 per five-year interval and may reflect the limitations to emigration from the Russian Latvian state, the new Brazilian immigration policy and the drawing power of western countries such as the United States and Canada more similar to the home environment.

During the period 1890 to 1970 it is estimated that between 6,000 and 9,000

Latvian immigrants entered Brazil of which approximately 50% or between 75

3,000 and h,500 resided in Sao Paulo by the end of 1970. It is further estimated that the total number of Latvian immigrants including descendants residing in Brazil is between 15,000 and 18,000, Possibly 50% of this total also inhabit Sao Paulo and a great majority of the remainder reside within the State of Sao Paulo in the communities of Varpa and Nova Odessa.

From the limited statistical data available the religious subdivision of the Latvian immigrant community in Brazil is more heavily weighted to• wards the Baptist than the Lutheran denomination, in contrast to that originating in pre-Second World War Latvia. Some of the factors influencing this distribution are documented in the thesis and in the Case Study reported in the appendix. It is apparent that a more complete in-depth determination of statistics would be necessary to establish with confidence the religious denominational distributions and should include a comparison with the native and other immigrant population religious distributions during the same period as that studied for the Latvians.

Despite the intense urbanization in Sao Paulo, religion is still very important as a means of organization and a focus of meaning in the society.

In comparison to other states in Brazil, the Sao Paulo minority groups still remain faithful to their ethnic religions. In 1950 a census indicated that 92% of the Sao Paulo population was Roman Catholic; however there is some question as to the number of true practising Catholics. Approximately one quarter of the Protestants in Brazil resided in Sao Paulo and formed about 6% of the Sao Paulo religious population. The assimilation of a predominantly Catholic immigrant group such as the Italians dint© Brazilian society was more easily achieved because of the dominance of religion in so many of the aspects of daily life, but the immigrants of the Protestant 76

faith were thrust into a new religious atmosphere. Integration of Latvians

and of various other sectors of the European ethnic Protestant population

proved more difficult due to their minority role within the predominantly

Catholic community. This, however, is an important factor in discovering

the identity of such a small ethnic population. The unity of the Latvian

community was important to the maintenance of its religious heritage and

its existence within a very small Protestant minority in comparison with

the Catholic majority in Sao Paulo. An ethnic group consisting of a few

thousand immigrants of Catholic background would be readily dispersed and

difficult to identify or trace.

It is apparent from the descriptions of both the geographical and

cultural aspects of the two countries and peoples of Latvia and Brazil that there are many differences to be overcome should the two societies attempt to become integrated. Section A comprehensively but briefly in• troduced the important aspects of these two cultures, and in connection with the characteristics of the urban centre of Sao Paulo and its cosmo• politan immigrant population, discussed the areas and degree of Latvian-

Brazilian assimilation. This degree of assimilation is in general equated with the size of the immigrant group and its internal community development within the host society. Section B outlined the extent of Latvian immigra• tion and religious affiliations as a focalppoint for tracing Latvian community development and involvement in Brazilian culture. The Latvian emigration was also traced briefly, both outside Brazil and to other

Brazilian communities, to provide a more comprehensive review of the total assimilation picture to complement that of the Sao Paulo urban 77

sector. The extent of Latvian-Brazilian influence was traced through

customs, language, intermarriage and social activities to show the tenta•

tive reluctance of the older generations to change and integrate fully,

t>ut also to indicate the almost total integration of the younger generation

Latvians with the Brazilian urban society. It is quite possible that with

the diminishing number of Latvian immigrants entering Sao Paulo at present,

the Latvian heritage will continue to be absorbed into the cosmopolitan

structure of urban Brazilian society, and except for a few traces of

language and family custom, will tend to be more integrated into that

society in generations to come. The last mainstay will perhaps be the

church unless a concerted effort is directed to the Latvian youth to

retain ties with their parents' heritage. This driving influence, if it

is to prevail, will most likely rest with the Latvian wives, since they

change more slowly than the men who are in daily working contact with

Brazilian society. Therefore, in comparison with the "Social-psychological

study of Latvian immigrants in Canberra" by Jaunzems and Brown, hypotheses

relating to variability of Latvian assimilation with age and sex appear to be equally valid forbboth Brazil and Australia.

The pride of a heritage with such deeply rooted ethnic origins as the Latvians' surely will survive within the Brazilian environment. Those

Latvians that have made Sao Paulo their home and Brazil their newly adopted land are thankful for the opportunity to share and grow with the Brazilian people. In the minds of many Brazilian-Latvians, their new country will emerge as one of the most prosperous and important nations in the world.' 78

BIBLIOGRAPHY

PRIMARY SOURCES

A. LATVIA

Manuscript Papers from the Latvian Church Archives in Sao Paulo, S.P., Brazil

Archivs. Raksti par Latviskam Problemam. Redaktors, E. Dunsdorfs. •Au Australia: Loma Print, 1973.

"Brazilijas Latviesu Luterani Organizejas." Latvi.ja, g. 23, (novembri 19^9).

"Brazilijas Latviesu Ev.-Luteranu Draudze." Sao Paulo, 1958.

Bruvers, Arnolds. Latviesi Palmu Zeme. Riodezaneira: Rigas Spiestuve, 1970.

Church Archives. 'Documentation of Latvian Immigrant Arrivals in Brazil,' I9I16-I95U.

Church Archives. 'Yearly additions to the church register and Community development' for the Latvian Lutheran Community in Sao Paulo, S.P., 191+0-1961.

"Cinquentenario da Colonia Varpa," Estado de Sao Paulo. Rio de Janeiro: 0 Jornal Batista, No. 1+5,- 5 de novembro de 1972, pp. 1-3.

"Dzimusie, Iesvetitie, Laulibas un Mirusi." San Paulo Draudze, 1951-197"+. Private communication.

Latviesu Preses Biedribas. Melns uz Balta. LPB Dienvidarnerikas kopa, No. 2, 1969.

Mekss, Jekabs. "Baznicas Dzive Brazilija." Sao Paulo, 197^. Private Sommunic at ion.

' . "Latvijas Ev. Lut. Baznicas Dzivi Brazilija." Private communication, 1957-

• Latviesu Draudze Brazili.ja. Latviesu Draudzu Dzive Pasaule. Sao Paulo, 1955-

"Petnieka Gaitas Dienvid-America." Zurhals, 1953. 79

"Piemineklis Latviesu Imigrantiem Brazilija." Laiks, 1956.

"Pirmo Vacijas Latviesu Satiksanas ar Tautiesiem Brazilija." Latvija.

"Pirmie Kurzemnieki Brazilija." Laiks. New York.

Rudzitis, Laimons. "Latviesu Valoda Brazilija." Brazil. Unpublished manuscript.

"San Paulas Latviesu Luterani." Draudze pagaidu valde. Sao Paulo, S.P., 19^9. Private communication.

"San Paulo Latv. Ev. Lut. Draudzes Locekli." Sao Paulo, S.P.: Latvian Lutheran Church Archives, 1955-

Sinodo Evangelico do Brasil Central. "Comunidade Luterana Leta de Sao Paulo." 1962, p. 16.

"Sutnis Peteris Olins Aizsaule." G. 31 (augusta 1962).

B. BRAZIL

Brazilian Government Publications

Azevedo Sodre, Ruy. Confederagao das famxlias Cristas. Amparo a Familia pela Legislagao Social. Sao Paulo: Empresa Grafica da "Revista dos Tribunals," LTDA, 1951, pp. 17, 27-

Brazilian Government Trade Bureau. Corporations, Labor and Tax System in Brazil. New York, 1958.

Conselho Nacional de Estatistica. Populagao. Rio de Janeiro: Servigo Grafico do Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica, Dezembro 19^6.

.tDiBiGtEy,• pSoBseJb&griNSei©rial de Estatistica. Sinopse "Prelimiriar do Ceriso Demografico. Recenseamento Geral do Brasil, 1 de Julho de 1950. Rio de Janeiro: Servigo Grafico do Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica, 1951, PP- 1, 27-30.

Information Department of the Brazilian Embassy. Brazil. England: The Lavenham Press Ltd., 1972.

Ministerio de Relagoes Exteriores, Divisao Cultural. Brasil. Rio de Janeiro, 1958. 80

Ministerio do Planejamento e Coordenacao Geral. Sinopse Estatistica do Brasil. Rio de Janeiro: Fundagao IBGE, Instituto Brasileiro de Estatistica, 1971.

Ministry of Foreign Relations. An Outline of Brazilian History. Rio de Janeiro: Grafica Vitoria, 1952, pp. h5-h-T.

. Brazil: Aspects of General Interest. Rio de Janeiro: Grafica Vitoria, 1953.

' , Cultural Division. An Essay on Race Amalgamation. Rio de Janeiro: Departamento de Imprensa Nacional, ~i i—i

— — . • Education in Brazil. Rio de Janeiro: Departamento de Imprensa Nacional, 1951, pp.- 11-17.

SECONDARY SOURCES

A. LATVIA

American Latvian Association. Latvia. Washington, D.C: American Latvian Association in the United States, Inc., 1968.

Andersons, Edgards. Cross Road Country, Latvia. Iowa, U.S.A.: Ed. Dobelis, Latvju Gramata, 1953.

. Latvia, Past and Present. Iowa, U.S.A.: Latvju Gramata, 1969.

Jaunzems, I. and L.B. Brown. "A Social-Psychological Study of Latvian Immigrants in Canberra." ICEM, International Migrations, I, 2, 1972, 53.

Latvias Psr Ministru Padomes Centrala Statistikas Parvalde. Padom.ju Latvi,jas Ekonomika un Kultura. Riga: "Statistika" Latvijas Nodala, 1966.

Latvijas Psr Zinathu Akademija Vestures Instituts. Latviesu Etnografi,ja. Riga: "Zinatne" Riga, 1969-

Ronis, Osvaldo. Uma Epopeia de Fe: A Historia dos Batistas Letos no Brasil. Rio de Janeiro: Casa,Publicadora Batista, 197^• 81

Rutkis, J. Latvia, Country and People. Stockholm: Latvian National Foundation, 1967.

B. BRAZIL

Baklanoff, Eric N. New Perspectives of Brazil. Nashville, Tennessee: Vanderbilt University Press, 1966.

Borges Pereira, Joao Batista. Italianos no Mundo Rural Paulista. Sao Paulo: Livraria Pioneira Editora, 197^.

Buarque de Holanda, S. Raizes do Brasil. Rio de Janeiro: Livraria Jose Olympio Editora, 1971.

Burns, E. Bradford. Nationalism in Brazil. New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1968.

Campbell, Gordon. Brazil Struggles for Development. London: Charles Knight & Co. Ltd., 1972.

Carone, Edgard. A Segunda Republica. Sap Paulo: Difusao Europeia do Livro, 1973.

Dean, Warren. The Industrialization of Sao Paulo, 1880-19^5. Austin: The University of Texas Press, 1969.

De Azevedo, Fernando. Brazilian Culture: An Introduction to the Study of Culture in Brazil. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1950.

De Azevedo, Thales. Social Change in Brazil. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1963.

Durhan, E.R. Assimilagao e Mobilidade. Sao Paulo: Instituto de Estudos Brasileiros, 1966.

Ferreira Lima, Heitor. Historia Politico-Economica e Industrial do Brasil. Sao Paulo: Compania Editora Nacional, 1970.

Freitas Marcondes, J.S. and 0. Pimentel. Sao Paulo: Espirito, Povo e Instituigoes. Sao Pauibo: Livraria Pioneira Editora, 1968.

•F-reyre, Gilberto. ' Brazil:' An Interpretation. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 19^7.

__. New World in the Tropics: The Culture of Modern Brazil. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1963. 82

Garland, P. Griffith. Doing Business in and with Brazil. Sao Paulo: Banco Lar Brasileiro, 1971.

Heath, Dwight B. and Richard N. Adams. Contemporary Cultures arid. Societies of Latin America. New York: Random House, Inc., 1965.

History of Latin American Civilization. Ed. Lewis Hanke. Vol. II. California: Little, Brown & Co., 1967.

Hunnicutt, Benjamin H. Brazil Looks Forward. Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica, 19^5.

. Brazil, World Frontier. New York: Greenwood Press, 19^9.

Hutter, Lucy M. • Imigracao Italiana em Sao Paulo. Sao Paulo: Instituto de Estudos Brasileiros, 1972.

Kahl, Joseph A. The Measurements of Modernism. Austin: The University of Texas Press, Institute of Latin American Studies, 1968.

Keith, H.H. and S.F. Edwards. Conflict and Continuity in Brazilian Society. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1969.

Leff, Nathaniell H. Economic Policy-Making and Development in Brazil, 19U7-196H. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1968.

Leonard, Emile-G. 0 Protestantismo Brasileiro. Sao Paulo: Associacao de Seminarios Teologicos Evangelicos, 1951.

Lynn Smith, T. Brazil: People and Institutions. Louisiana: Louisiana State University Press,1963.

Margolis, Maxine L. The Moving Frontier: Social and Economic Change in a Southern Brazilian Community. Gainesville: University of'Florida Press, 1973.

Martins, Luis. Brasil, Terra e Alma: Sao Paulo. Rio de Janeiro: Editora do Autor, Ltda., 1967.

Medici, Emilio Garrastazu. Nosso Caminho. Brasilia: Departamento de Imprensa Nacional, 1972.

Melo Filho, Murilo. 0 Milagre Brasileiro. Rio de Janeiro: Edicoes Bloch, 1972.

Momsen, Richard P. Brazil: A Giant Stirs. Princeton: D. Van Nostrand Co. Inc., 1968. 83

Morse, Richard M. From Community to Metropolis. Florida: University of Florida Press, 1958.

• . "Sao Paulo since Independence: A Cultural Interpreta- tion." Readings in Latin American History, ed. Lewis Hanke, since 1810, Vol. II. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1966.

Oiticica, Jose. Agao Direta: Meio Seculo de Pregagao Libertaria. Rio de Janeiro: Editora Germinal, 1970.

Read,. William R. New Patterns of Church Growth in Brazil. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1965.

Rodrigues, Jose Honorio. The Brazilians: . Their Character and Aspirations. Austin: University of Texas Press, 196*7 •

Saunders, John. Modern Brazil. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1971.

Shirley, Robert W. The End of a Tradition. New York: Columbia University Press, 1971.

Smith, T. Lynn-and A. Marchant. Brazil: Portrait of Half a Continent. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1951.

Wagley, Charles. An Introduction to Brazil. New York: Columbia Univ• ersity Press, 1971.

C. MIGRATIONS

Brody, Eugene B. Behavior in New Environments: Adaptation of Migrant Populations. California: Sage Publications, Inc., 1969.

Brown, F.J. and J.S. Roucek. Our Racial and National Minorities. New York: Prentice Hall, Inc., 1937-

Dollot, Louis. Race and Human Migrations. New York: Walker and Company, 1961+.

Handlin, Oscar. The Uprooted. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1951.

International Labor Office. Analysis of the Immigration Laws and Regula• tions. Geneva, 195^.

Johnston, Ruth. The Assimilation Myth. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1969. 8^

National .'Bureau of Economic Research. International Migrations. 1-11. New York: National Bureau of Research, Inc., 1929-

Norris, J. Strangers Entertained. Vancouver: Evergreen Press Ltd., 1971-

Scott, Franklin D. World Migration in Modern Times. New Jersey: Prentice- Hall, Inc., 1961T

Tabori, Paul. The Anatomy of Exile. London: George C. Harrap & Co. Ltd., 1972.

Taft, Donald R. and Richard Robbins. International Migrations. New York: The Ronald Press Co., 1955-

Unesco. Population and Culture. W.D. 'Borrie, "The cultural Integration of Immigrants."Paris:United Nations, 1959- 85

APPENDIX A

I. CASE STUDY:

The Development of the Latvian Lutheran Community in Sao Paulo

(Based on original church records and archival material)1

The collected material comprising this case study was supplied "by the

Latvian Lutheran minister currently residing in the city of Sao Paulo,

Jekabs Mekss,1 and describes by year the activities, development and statistics concerning the membership of the Latvian Lutheran church in

Sao Paulo.

19^6

The major migration of Latvian immigrants to Sao Paulo originated from the interior .Brazilian-Latvian colonies, primarily Varpa and Nova

Odessa, and from refugees from the Second World War. A large number of these refugees, although originally from Latvia prior to the war, entered

Brazil from a large number of other countries, primarily in the Eurasian and Australasian continents. They were largely helped by a few of the . older families of Latvian origin settled in the Sao Paulo area and especially by the Latvian Baptist minister J. Lukass, mentioned briefly in Chapter III.

On 9 September 19^6, a meeting of the heads of nine families was held to found the Latvian Lutheran community in the city of Sao Paulo. On this date they also asked for the use of the Latvian Baptist church in order to hold their religious services. The answer to this request to the 86

Baptists came on 8 October with the suggestion that they should endeavour to find a place for their services among the various Brazilian churches.

The Lutherans subsequently approached the Brazilian Evangelical Lutheran

Synod which maintained various churches within the city of Sao Paulo.

They were granted the use of church space for services, but restriction was imposed forbidding services to be held in a foreign language. This was unsatisfactory to the committee and the search for a place of worship and a Latvian Lutheran minister continued.

19^8

Having been unsuccessful to date in pursuing their goals they turned in 19^8 to the German community in Sao Paulo, and through their minister,

E. Heini, they concluded an agreement for the use of the Concordia School for their services. On 20 June ±9^8, the Latvian Lutherans held their first religious service in the city of Sao Paulo with the attendance of

TO persons. At the conclusion of the service a meeting was held and a total of 31 families registered as continuing members of the new church community. After this date a regular service was held monthly.

In -July, the new community initiated correspondence in search of help, support and their own minister to lead the church. However, in this same year an influential Latvian family moved to Canada, detracting from the strong community development.

19^9

The ministerial search continued throughout Latvian communities overseas, but this did not affect the continued functioning and organization 87

of the group in Sao Paulo. Records show that during this year there were

2U2 Latvian Lutherans residing in Sao Paulo. The major achievements of 19^9

included organization of regular religious services and establishment of

community organizations, and among them, the Latvian Women's Committee.

A Latvian journal, Latvija,2 of worldwide circulation, contained

the following in the 23 November 19^+9 issue about the activities of the

Latvian Lutherans in Sao Paulo:

The Sao Paulo Latvian Lutheran community held their meeting, in October to elect a temporary leader, Engineer 0. Bikse,. . . There are also plans to organize a youth committee. Religious services are held up to now by the German minister, E. Heini*.

A major reason for the delay in acquiring their own minister resulted

from discontinued support by the I.R.O. ,• The International Refugee Organiza•

tion, in subsidising the transport of immigrants to Brazil. However, the

Baptist minister, J. Lukass, had working relations with the Brazilian

immigration department and succeeded in maintaining Latvian immigration

although on a smaller scale.

1950

137 persons were registered in the Lutheran community, although-.'it is believed that this was only about one quarter of the total number of

Latvian residents in Sao Paulo. This is to be expected considering the size of the city even at this time and the difficulties with transportation.

The average number in attendance at regular services totalled from 30 to kO persons, increasing to 100 during Christmas services. In order to maintain interest in community activities, the Women's Committee organized tea parties with various programmes. However, the number of those who 88

participated reached only about kO of whom three quarters were the organizers

or the activities. The youth involvement was also at a minimum level. This

may possibly have occurred due to the easier assimilation of the youth into

the Brazilian society as opposed to the resistance of the older generation

to a new language and customs. However, it is anticipated that mobility

and transportation was still a dominant factor. The main Latvian aim.initially was to maintain the national spirit among themselves and their children.

There is only one record of a marriage between members of the Latvian com• munity during this year.

In the period between the end of 19^9 and 1950 the Latvian community printed 250 circulars about Latvian community and social activities re• questing registration from interested Latvians. This resulted in an increase from 137 to 225 Latvian Lutherans registered, but did not reflect the total number in Sao Paulo.

1951

Their searches were rewarded in 1951 with the arrival of the first

Latvian Lutheran minister, J. Mekss, who proceeded to conduct the Latvian services. A distinct mark of assimilation was the choice of the new name adopted by the community: "Brazilian Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Community".

Assistance was contributed by the Brazilian Lutheran Synod in the form of income support for the minister.

The community began to flourish under the leadership of thennew minister, who attempted to keep the Latvian heritage alive by initiation of Sunday school classes for the children. 89

1952-1958

In 1952, 18 Latvian youths-were confirmed by minister Mekss. By 195*+, three years after the new minister's arrival,.grants were given for con•

struction of their own church in Sao Paulo. During the l+00th anniversary

jubilee year of Sao Paulo in 195*+» a great exposition was held in the Park

Ibirapuera in which the Latvian community had a stand showing their culture and heritage to the Brazilians. This may be viewed as an illustration of the retention of the Latvian culture, but also it was an attempt to parti• cipate, communicate and be involved with the Brazilian community.

1955 records show some intermarriage between Latvians and members of other Baltic states residing in Sao Paulo.

In 1956 minister Mekss was invited to bless a new Latvian church in

Nova Odessa, in the State of Sao Paulo. In this same year l!+ Latvian youths were confirmed in the city of Sao Paulo; however, the community lost one of its oldest members, 0. Biks, who moved with his family to the

United States to assume a new position.

In 1957 the community gained 21 new members, and in the following year

9 more registered, among them a prominent industrialist, P. Megnis and his family. He was the managing director of an important industry in Sao Paulo that, under his direction, aided the industrial growth of Sao Paulo.

In 1958 with subsidies from the U.S. Missouri Synod and from members of the community, they built their own Latvian Lutheran church in Sao Paulo.

However, in this year the number of church participants decreased partially as a result of Latvian emigration from Sao Paulo to the United States and

Canada. Similarly, the Sunday school registration declined to such an

*Male and female 90

extent that it was terminated in 1958 and reinstituted only in 1969.

There is evidence that this migration perhaps resulted from a wish of

the Latvians to be associated with a culture and climatic conditions

closer to that of their origin. This emigration was possible largely

because of help from friends and relatives who provided or located em•

ployment for the Brazilian Latvians abroad. Statistics extracted from

the Latvian Lutheran Church records for the city of Sao Paulo showing

membership registration and Sunday School attendance are presented in

Tables XIX and XX respectively.

TABLE XIX

Statistics Extracted from Latvian Lutheran Church Records in Sao Paulo (1953-1958)3 ~~

Year Registered church members Beginning of 1953 258 End 1953 289 195^ 305 i955 328 1956 3k 3 i957 359 1958 373 1958-1969 Decreased registration due to emigration (statistics not available)

However, it may be noticed that during the latter period covered by the statistics in the friext? table, the Sunday school attendance decreased between the years 1955-1970. TABLE XX Sunday School Attendance Statistics from the Latvian Lutheran Church Records in Sao Paulo (city) (1955-1970)3

Year Attendance 1955 23 1956 18 1957 15 1958-1968 (Sunday School interrupted) 1969 13 1970 8

It is apparent from Table XXII that the change in the I.R.O. policy of providing transportation to Brazil created a dramatic influx in 19^9; however, after that date the withdrawal of support resulted in a large drop from the 19^9 level of k32 to an average of 8. per year over the following five years. These statistics must be viewed lightly in terms of actual totals considering the acknowledgement of their incompleteness; however, the importance of the trends should be noted.

The total number of Latvian immigrants from Source II in Table XXIII is composed of family members of varying ages and levels of education. An approximate summary of this is given in Table XXII below, compiled from existing records, which were again in many instances incomplete.

TABLE XXI Levels of Education within the Latvian Immigrant Family (19^6-195^)^ Education Number* % of Total Brazilian Education^ % of Population I9U6 Elementary 33- 38 '8.3 Secondary 26 26 6.3 Technical Training 7 8 . 3.8 University® 17 20 0.6 Academy of Arts 2 2 0.6 Conservatory __1 1 Total 86 *Th.ese figures include all members of the family unit and are therefore biased toward the lower age category and lower achievement levels in education. 92

TABLE XXII

Latvian Immigrants to Brazil, Arriving "by Ship,^ the Majority of -whom resided in the City of Sao Paulo, (191*6-195 "0 (Aided by the I.R.6T) (The data is not complete)

The majority of the data was derived from a Latvian Baptist journal, Kristigs Draugs, the issue of which was interrupted in 191+0 and rein- stituted in I9I+8. The journal contained a special column of all the numbers and names of Latvians immigrating to Brazil with the aid of the I.R.O. (international Refugee Organization).

Year Month Day Port of Point of Name of Number Number Arrival Embarkation Ship (Source i) (Source II) (if known)

19^6 6 Jan. 6 l May 16 7 June 15 2 July 21+ 7 Sep. l 2 Sep. 5 2 17 19^7 Feb. 13 1 Feb. 17 1 May 16 8 June 16 1+ July 21* 2 Sep. 1

19 U8 Jan. England 2 Jan. lk 1 Feb. Sweden 3 Apr. 13 3 June 1 July 1+ 1 Aug. Rio de Janeiro Gen. Hanzelmann 28 Germany 19 Oct. 30 Sweden 1+ Dec. Rio de Janeiro Gen. Bliane tt 8 Gen. Stewart 1+ Gen. Langfitt 19 Dec. 30

9*49 Feb. Rio de Janeiro Gen. Stewart n ti 29 tt it n 11 Gen. Campana it 8 Mar. 2 Gen. Hanzelmann tt it 15 16 Gen. Holbrook it 56 25 England Magdalena 9 Apr. ti n 1 Sweden 1 Germany 2 93

TABLE XXII Continued

Year Month Day- Port of Point of lame of Number Number Arrival Embarkation Ship (Source I) (Source II) (if known)

19^9 May May Muir 70 Florida 7 McRae 7 Formosa 1+ Hersey 37 7 Charlton 37 Charlton 21 July Aug. 5 Canberra 55 Aug. 10 Protea 19 Sep. 13 1 Nov. 19 2 Nov. 22 1 Dec. 12 2 6 Charlton 5 Gen. Langfitt Ik

1950 May 1 Aug. 18 1 Oct. 20 1

1951 July 17 5 7 Own boat* 3* Aug. 1

1952 Jan. 23 2 Feb. 15 1 2

1953 June 25 Paraguay

195^ Jan. 20 Paraguay 1 June 8 China 2

Total (Source I) 191+8-1949: 530 Total (Source II) I9I+6-I95I+: 12*+ TOTALS (by year)

.9U6 1+1+ 1951 16 *In 1951, the Ploks family made .91+7 25 1952 5 sensational news when they success• 91+8 95 1953 2 fully crossed the Atlantic Ocean in 9k9 1+32 1951+ 11 their self-constructed boat. The 950 3 total journey lasted three years and involved stops in Africa. These education data are a direct counterpart of and related to the

statistics given in Table I.for the 1937 Education participation in

Latvia, although they may be-somewhat modified or distorted by the un-

settlement of the Latvian immigrants in the post-war years in several

temporary locations throughout the world. This may have accounted for

temporary disruption, especially in the higher levels of education, due

to unfamiliarity of language and the necessity to work to support the

family. By comparison of the percentage of the total attendance in the

various educational levels in Latvia (Table I) and in Brazil in 19 "+6.5'

shown in Table XXII, one can see a large degree of similarity in the two

countries during that period of time. - However, the Table XXII data for the Latvian immigrants from the post-Second World War period shows a marked increase in the higher educated class seeking refuge outside

Latvia and entering Brazil. 95

APPENDIX A: NOTES

1 Minister J. Mekss, "Baznicas Dzive Brazilija" (Original Church

Records, 1946-1958).

2 "Brazilijas Latviesu Luterani Organizejas," Latvia, 19^9> g. 23, novembri.

3 Minister J. Mekss, Sao Paulo, 197^ (private communication).

^ Latvian Lutheran Community Church Records, Brazil, 1946-1954.

5 Ministry of Foreign Relations, Cultural Division, Education in

Brazil (Rio de Janeiro: Dept. de Imprensa Nacional, 1951)» pp. 15-16. 96

APPENDIX B

LATVIAN IMMIGRATION TO BRAZIL - BRAZILIAN IMMIGRATION POLICY

- STATISTICS AND DISCUSSION

Reasons for the lack of good accurate statistical data arise from

the Brazilian government citizenship law and registration procedures.

Immigrant statistics are recorded by citizenship or the country of embarka•

tion. If an immigrant is under 16 years of age and is not in possession

of a passport, his citizenship is taken as that of his birthplace regard•

less of the nationality of his parents. This was of consequence both for

children of Latvian refugees born in foreign countries of temporary residence

and for people of other nationalities temporarily residing in Latvia before

emigration to Brazil and therefore in possession of Latvian passports.

Often this latter group did not even speak the Latvian language. So

statistics that show the country of origin may not truly reflect the national origin but just the passport citizenship data. Brazilian law

also considers all children born in Brazil to be Brazilian citizens regard• less of the parents' country of origin, making it very difficult to assess the real number of people of Latvian heritage or parentage. Of further consideration, one of the more important developments in Brazilian immigration policy was introduced by the government of Getulio Vargas in 193^ to control more closely the number and quality of immigrants:

Most important of all, a quota system for limiting immigration was placed in effect. The number of foreigners of one nationality who might enter the. nation during any one year was placed at two percent of the immigration from that 97

country during the years lSSU to 1933. This law set the total immigration permitted during any single year at 77,020.

A later decree in 1938 restricted 80% of the nationality quota to those

involved in agriculture, a policy which remains today. The effects of

these two policies are reflected in the statistical data presented in

Table XXIII, which is indicative of restrictions to free immigration

after.193k. Possibly the 1938 immigration policy had little restraints

on Latvian immigration due to the major concentration of Latvian education

in the agricultural sciences during the period of independence. More re•

strictive perhaps was the occupation by the Soviets and restriction to free

migration from Latvia to any destination in theppost-war era.

Brazilian immigration law in the Constitution of 18 September 19U6

provides that:

... in time of peace any person may enter, reside in or leave the country and bring his property with him, provided that the law is observed . . . the selection, entry, as• signment and. settlement of immigrants shall be subject to the requirements of the national interest in the matter determined by law.

However, there are some restrictive measures imposed upon the activities

; of aliens prohibiting them from owning newspaperss anddradi6astati'ons', and there were limitations on the development of national mineral resources and water power. Brazilian national defence services must employ a minimum of two thirds of its crews and all owners, agents and captains from Brazilian nationals.

Brazilian immigration laws are nonrestrictive on the basis of religion; however, the government reserves the right of refusal of entry to any particular race or origin for social or economic reasons: 98

In admitting immigrants account will be taken of the need to maintain and develop the most desirable features of European descent in the populations' racial make-up, and the need to protect Brazilian workers.

Brazilian statistics do not generally differentiate among the Baltic

states, and after the U.S.S.R. occupation, the Brazilian statistics do

not further mention the Baltic states but consider them to be part of

the Soviet Union.

There is great disparity and variation in the available statistical

data and literature regarding Latvian immigration to Brazil and Sao Paulo.

The following Is an account of some of these variations and, in conjunction

with Tables X, XI, XII, XIV, and XXIV, best estimates are summarized and

reported.

Various reported estimates of Latvian immigration statistics are

summarized in Table X, covering, in general, the period between 1890 and

1970- This Table in conjunction with the figure in Table XI represents

the data in terms of number of immigrants to Brazil and to the State and

City of Sao Paulo. In brief the estimates of Rutkis1^ and. Rudzitis1^ are best substantiated in association with the remaining sources for total

immigration, and those of Smith1 and Rudzitis1^ appear to be most reliable

for the State and City of Sao Paulo.

Rutkis^ estimates that for the period between I89O and 191"+,

approximately 2,000 Latvians entered Brazil. This would amount to an

average yearly immigration rate of 83 per year over the period or, in connection with Table XXIV which illustrates the Latvian immigration totals for five-year intervals, approximately kl5 in each five-year interval. The majority of these initial immigrants settled in the rural TABLE XXIII

ORIGIN AND NUMBER OF NORTHERN EUROPEAN IMMIGRANTS TO BRAZIL

Year Latvian Lithuanian Estonian Finnish U.S.S.R. Low Countries 1920 1921 1922 1923 29 (3) 192U 192

112(2) 1925 21 1669 15 756 1926 289 6026(3) 1+39 16 751 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 193U 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 19UO 56.(7) 19^1 10*(7).. 2»(7) 1*(7) 53* (7) 19^2 1* 2* 0 0 2* 19^3 0 1* 0 0 2* I9hk 13* 0 0 20* 8* i(^) 12* ]_(!+) 2* 19I+5 1* 3OO 33* 2W 191+6 13 1+1+(21) 36 10(1+ ) 19 28 19^7 .18 25 1+2 3 65 18 19I+8 118 95 167 2h 7^ 131+2 191+9 31 1+32 18 5 1+6 36

VQ vo TABLE XXIII continued

Year Latvian Lithuanian Estonian Finnish HiS.S.R. Low Countries 1950 3 1951 16 1952 5 1953 2 11 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 I960 1961 7 32k 1962 1963 196U 93 119 1965 10 52 192 1966 6 111 179 1967 2 38 167 1968 11 32 163 1969 7 23 18 1970 7 5 128

* Number of naturalizations in a given year

(. ) Reference number

o 101

TABLE X

LATVIAN EMIGRATION TO BRAZIL AND SAO PAULO: TOTALS

Reference Period involved Total number of immigrants

International 1820 - 1926 331 Migrations

19 1890 - 191k 2,000 ) 19lk - 1922 ) Rutkis 1922 - 1939 2,500 ) 5,)+00 1939 - 19^5 ) 191+5 -(1967) 900 ) 1 Smith 18811 _ 1957 2,209 S.P. State

8 Andersons 1886 - 1953 2,000 S.P. State 30,000 including des• cendants

18 Rudzitis Up to 19h0 (U,280 Latvians + (0 Estado de S.P.) Estonians

16 Rudzitis Up to 1938 6,000-8,000 (Latviesu Kolonijas)

Rudzitis 19"+6 -(post var) 1,500 I960-'s Rudzitis Up to I960's 12,000-15,000 (including descendants)

17 Rudzitis Up to 1958 s 01£ (3,102 city of S.P.) (Meie Tee) b'^lb (3,lll+ rural S.P. )

Rudzitis Up to 1967 8,000 adults (Baltische Briefe) 2,500 children

13 1916 - 1923 1,750 (Varpa) Ronis Up to 1953 1,U82 Baptists Up to 1972 1,072 "

Table XXII 191*6 - 195"+ 651+ 102

TABLE XXIV

IMMIGRATION OF LATVIANS TO BRAZIL

(Estimate over 5-year period)

1750 immigrants Ronis (13): 1916 - 1923 • (220/year) or! (1100/5-years)

1000 S|i 2500 immigrants & Rutkis (1): 1922 - 1936 (149/year) or (745/5-years) 900 j|| 531 immigrants "'Table VI : 1922 - 1926 800 (132/year) or (660/5-years) 654 immigrants • 700 Church Records: 1946 - 1954 (73/year) or (365/5-years) 1500 immigrants 600 % Rudzitis (16): 1946 - 1965 (75/year) or (375/5-years)

500 900 immigrants |§s Rutkis (1): 1945 - 1961 (50/year) or (250/5-years) 400 Rutkis (1): 1890 - 1914 300 2000 immigrants (= 83/year) 200 or (415/5-year period) 100

1890 1900 1910 ! 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 i i II

1st World 2nd World War War TABLE XI

GRAPHICAL ESTIMATES OF LATVIAN IMMIGRATION TO Reference BRAZIL AND SAO PAULO

19 X Rutkis 1 o Smith 3 a International Migrations 8 A Andersons 16 • Rudzitis (Latviesu Kolonias) 11 • Rudzitis (Meie Tee) 20 + Rudzitis

1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970

Date lok

TABLE XII

ESTIMATES OF THE NUMBER OF LATVIAN IMMIGRANTS ENTERING BRAZIL AND HISTORICAL EVENTS DURING THE PERIOD 1890-1970

8000 i

7150 (1945.,- _ " I960?) rH •rt N n) 6250 u pq

M C •rt u 0) 4-> C W CO u c nj M bO •rt 3750

•rt > 4-1 cd

•4-1 2000 o

CU x>e

1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 I 1950 1960 1970 Date

I WORLD WAR 2nd WORLD WAR

Unknown number of Latvian Immigrants during this period

x Estimates by Rutkis n Overlap in immigrant data 105

communities such as Nova Odessa which was founded in 1906. Data for the

period during the First World War is almost non-existent, but Julio Malvesr paper in 1916 describing the attributes-;of Brazil to the Latvians inspired

an exodus from Latvia in the following years. This is substantiated by

estimates of Ronis-'-S reporting that in the period between 1916 and 1923

approximately 1,750 Latvians entered Brazil, the majority of them settling in the community of Varpa which was founded in. 1923. In terms of five-year intervals in Table XXIV this amounts to 1,100 immigrants per interval.

During the period between 1922 and 1939 there are various reported estimates and events determining the extent of immigration. An estimate

1 by Rutkis 9 Qf approximately 2,500 Latvian immigrants making a total im• migration figure in 1939 of 2,000 + 1,750 + 2,500 or 6,250 is consistent with the figure of 6,000 to 8,000 reported by Rudzitis1^ up until 1938 as stated in the Latvian newspaper Latviesu Kolonijas. Reported data from the Brazilian newspaper 0 Estada do Sab Paulox8 indicating only k,280

Latvian plus Estonian immigrants up to 19h0 appears to be an underestimate for this period. For the four-year period from 1923 to 1926 inclusive, yearly data is available and is documented in Table XXIII. The four-year total of 531 would approximate a five-year average of 660 in Table XXIV during this period. This is in close agreement with the five-year averages estimated from Rutkis"-9 data, that is, approximately 7"+5 immigrants per five-year period between 1922 and 1936. However, during this period, the 193^ Brazilian immigration policy limited the entry of foreigners to

2% of the previous yearly immigration rate, and in 1938 the policy was adjusted to limit Q0% of those entering Brazil, to work in agricultural occupations. It can therefore be assumed that the largest percentage of 106

the 2,500 or so immigrants entered Brazil before 193"+.

During the Second World War there is very limited data, and no

accurate statistics are available. From 19"+5 to 196? Rutkis estimates

that an additional 900 Latvian immigrants came to Brazil. Church archival

records, which are known to be incomplete, confirm a minimum number of

Latvian immigrants entering Brazil by ship to be 65k between 19k6 and 195"+-

This latter period gives an average five-year interval estimate of 365 in

Table XXIV as compared to the Rutkis average five-year interval of 250

immigrants. This may also be compared with the value of Rudzitis-"^ for the

period between 19k6 and the mid-1960's of 1,500 immigrants which gives an

approximate figure of 375 for the five-year interval. This appears to be

in reasonably good agreement with the data of Rutkis. • During this period

in 19^9 the I.R.0. withdrew its support for immigration to Brazil with a

resulting very large influx of Latvian immigrants by ship in 19^9» number•

ing h32 as opposed to an average of 8 for each of the next five years.

The figures in Table XXIII for the period 19"+6 to 19"+9 from two sources

may be compared and in most cases show reasonable consistency.

The remaining estimates in Table X, 6,2l6 Latvian immigrants reported

up to 1958 by Meie Tee,1? and 8,000 adults and 2,500 children up to 1967

Of) by the Baltisehe Briefe, appear to be very consistent with this analysis,

and (Confirm the estimates of Rutkis. However, there appears to be some

disparity with the reported data in International Migrations3 and that of -, Q

Smith-1 and Andersons may be incomplete. If the data from Table VI may be extrapolated to that for Latvian immigration rather than just for total immigration statistics, it is to be expected that approximately

50% of all Latvian Immigrants resided in the State of Sao Paulo. In 107

fact this is most likely a very conservative estimate, since almost all of the first immigrants resided in Nova Odessa and Varpa and many of the remainder went to the city of Sao Paulo. Therefore confidence may he placed in the data of Rudzitis^ which reports a total of 6,2l6 Latvian immigrants by 1958, 3,102 residing in the city of Sao Paulo and 3,lll+ in rural Sao Paulo. The estimate of a minimum of 12,000 to a maximum of 15,000 Latvians including descendants residing in Brazil by the mid-

1960' s is not an unreasonable figure.

From the five-year interval averages given in Table XII an approxima• tion of between 1+00 and 500 Latvian immigrants per interval is a reasonable estimate and results in a total immigrant Latvian population of between

6,1+00 and 9,000 for the period 1890 to i960. If it be assumed that the average immigrant Latvian family had two children the Latvian population in Brazil would be 13,000 to 18,000 including descendants. The 30,000 figure reported by Andersons8 would appear to be a little high for the period 1886 to 1953. 108

REFERENCES OF TABLES ON LATVIAN IMMIGRATION STATISTICS

1 T./Lynn Smith, Brazil: People and Institutions (Louisiana:

Louisiana State University Press, 1963), p. 123.

National Bureau of Economic Research, International Migrations,

Vol. I (New York: National Bureau of Research, Inc., 1929), p. 781+.

3 Ibid. , Vol. II, p. l6k.

h Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Brazil, 1951 (Rio de Janeiro:

Grafica Victoria S.A., 1951), p. 20.

5 Conselho Nacional de Estatistica, Brazil: Ceriso Dembgrafico, serie nacional - Vol. I (Rio de Janeiro: I.B.G.E. Conselho Nacional de Estatistica, 1956), p. lh.

6 Anuario Estatistico do Brasil, Populagao (Rio de Janeiro:

Conselho Nacional de Estatistica, 1971), P- 115-

f Anuario Estatistico do Brasil, Populaeao, Conselho Nacional de Estatistica, I9I+6, p. 39-

8 E. Andersons, Cross Road Country, Latvia (Iowa: Ed. Dobelis,

Latvju Gramata, 1953), p. 353-

9 ConselhoPNacionalrdebEstatistica, Sinopse Preliminar do Censo

Demografico, Recenseamento Geral do Brasil, 1 de Julho de 1950 (Rio de

Janeiro: Servigo Grafico do Instituto de Geografia e Estatistica, 1951), pp. 29-30.

i§ Eunice Ribeiro Durham, "0s Migrantes Nacionais em Sao Paulo,"

Sao Paulo, Espirito, Povo e Instituigoes, ed. Freitas Marcondes e Pimentel

(Sao Paulo: Livraria Pioneira Editora, 1968), p. 59. 109

xx E. Andersons, Cross Road Country, Latvia, pp. 359-361.

x2 National Bureau of Economic Research, International Migrations, p. T8U.

!3 Osvaldo Ronis, Uma Epopeia de Fe: A Historia dos Batistas

Letos no Brasil (Rio de Janeiro: Casa Publicadora Batista, 197k), pp. klk-kl

ll+ T. Lynn Smith, Brazil, p. 511.

15 William R. Read, New Patterns of Church Growth in Brazil

(Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1965)> p. 192.

16 L. Rudzitis, "Latviesu Valoda Brazilija," unpublished manu• script, Brazil.

x7 Ibid. (Estonian Newspaper Meie Tee, 1958), Brazil.

!8 Ibid. (Sao Paulo Newspaper 0 Estado de Sao Paulo, 1959).

19 J. Rutkis, Latvia, Country and People (Stockholm: Latvian

National Foundation,

20 Rudzitis.

21 Latvian Church Archives, "Documentation of Latvian Immigrant

Arrivals in Brazil," (19^6-195*0, Sao Paulo, 197k.