Carlos Brandt
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Carlos Brandt | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 11 October 1875 |
| Died | 27 February 1964 (aged 88) |
| Occupations | Naturopath, philosopher |
Carlos Brandt (11 October 1875 – 27 February 1964)[1] was a Venezuelan author, naturopath, philosopher and vegetarianism activist.[2]
He was born in Miranda, Venezuela, the son of a German immigrant Karl Brandt, a coffee planter and exporter, and Zoraida Tortolero, mother to Carlos, Juan Luis, Fernando, Augusto, Asteria and Mary.[3] His younger brother (by 17 years) was the composer Augusto Brandt. He studied in Puerto Cabello Elementary School and was sent to Germany to join the Pro Gymnasium in Hamburg, aged 14 to 19. He toured Germany and France, and returned to Venezuela at 19, fluent in German, French and English. At 25, he met Leo Tolstoy, which encouraged his literary ambitions. In 1901, his first book was published, La belleza de la mujer (The Beauty of Women).[4]
Under the dictatorship of Juan Vicente Gómez, he was imprisoned and then exiled to Spain, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and then the United States. Protesting the dictatorship, he encountered the anarchist organization "Generación Consciente" in Barcelona. Brandt promoted natural living, pacifism, free-thinking, liberty and vegetarianism, in his writings, as well as being a biographer and novelist. Many of his books emerged during his time in exile. In 1913, Fundamentos de la Moral, also known as El problema vital (The Vital Problem), was published with a prologue by Albert Einstein. For his work, the American School of Naturopathy awarded him an honorary doctorate.[3] With this and further writings, Brandt counted as one of the original founders of the vegetarianism movement. He founded the Venezuelan Naturist Society and promoted a pantheistic philosophy.[3]
His books were published in Spanish, Italian, Flemish, Dutch, English, French and German. As well as his historic and philosophical writings, Brandt had an extensive correspondence with authors such as George Bernard Shaw, Leo Tolstoy, Albert Einstein, Benedict Lust (one of the founders of naturopathy), Ernst Haeckel, Max Nordau, Gabriela Mistral, Raffaele Garofalo, Alfred Russel Wallace and Elmer Lee. In 1901, he translated Tolstoy's Church and State into Spanish.[3]
Brandt returned to Venezuela in 1958 where he lived in anonymity and extreme poverty. He died from complications of hemiplegia in Caracas after refusing surgery, aged 88.[3]
