De normalista a intelectual: a trajetória do professor Severino Bezerra de Melo e suas redes de sociabilidade (1908-1956) no Rio Grande do Norte

This investigation aims to investigate the trajectory of the intellectual Severino Bezerra de Melo and his sociability networks, analyzing his actions, relationships and implications in the educational and political context, in the period from 1908 to 1956. The research intended to observe the performance of this intellectual in his various fields of action, seeking to understand what were his relationships at the Escola Normal de Natal, who were the agents involved in his trajectory, what motivated him to found Colégio Pedro II in Natal/RN and to analyze the influence of his sociability networks in his intellectual trajectory. To this end, we carried out documentary and bibliographical research in physical and virtual collections made available by institutional repositories such as those of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) and the National Library (AN), with emphasis on the Digital Hemeroteca. Official documents were found, such as: decrees; messages from the state governor; magazines and newspapers, such as “Pedagogium” and the Magazine of the Historical and Geographical Institute of Rio Grande do Norte (IHGRN); and newspapers such as “A República”, “A Ordem de Natal”, “O Poti” and “Diário de Natal”. The research was based on the meanings of intellectuals and sociability networks by Sirinelli (1996) and the notions of practices and representations by Chartier (1990). The study demonstrated that Severino Bezerra acted in several spaces in the State, such as in school groups, among them the Grupo Escolar Barão de Mipibu (1911-1922), the Grupo Escolar Frei Miguelinho (1924) and Antonio de Souza (1924- 1925). ; as a teatcher of Moral and Civic Instruction at the Ateneu Norte-Rio-Grandense (1927); directed the Male and Female School of Commerce in Natal (1937); and also taught at Escola Doméstica de Natal (1935). In 1927 he founded and directed Colégio Pedro II, which operated as a boarding school, semi-boarding school and day school. For a long period, Severino worked in the direction of the ...