Visões de Antanho ou prolegômenos da Universidade Federal da Paraíba

Abstract

These CHRONICLES, now collected in a book, were intended to capture daily life. I did not realize at the time that I was making a kind of documentary. Now, more than fifty years after the publication of the first articles in newspapers in the capital of Paraíba - works that are confused with the beginning of my unpretentious literary production - I realize that the one who was right was indeed my unforgettable friend, Canon Francisco Lima, who discovered in these modest newspaper lines what he called "PROLEGOMENA TO THE UNIVERSITY". I can say, without lack of modesty, that I do not know anyone who has written, in newspapers, as much as the author, about facts about UFPB. It is true that regarding the History of the Faculty of Medicine of Paraíba, Robson Espínola recently published a small book on Higher Education in Paraíba. "VISIONS OF YEARS AGO or PROLEGOMENONS OF THE UNIVERSITY" is not a systematic work on the Federal University of Paraíba. As for the latter, it can be said that its historian has not yet emerged. I believe that a comprehensive analysis of the subject could already have been carried out, whether by private initiative or by inspiration from the University itself. Let the writer Rafael de Menezes speak. As for the Autonomous University or UNIPÊ, which I idealized and founded, I intend to write its History. The IESP, which is just beginning, also needs its chronicler. This Collection is made up of fragments of "Visions" that I had, I would not say historical, but which gain value as they grow distant in time. If nothing else can be saved in these writings of yesterday, it is worth mentioning the author's intention to offer some support to scholars of the History of Higher Education in Paraíba in the days to come. It is worth recording past episodes so that they can help write history in the future. The image of the Federal University of Paraíba today (1981) is obviously not the same as it was thirty years ago, when talking about founding a university (even if it was the "Caixa-Prego" one) was a bold move.