1938 in Brazil

Events in the year 1938 in Brazil.

Federal government

 * President: Getúlio Vargas

Governors

 * Alagoas: Osman Laurel
 * Amazonas: Álvaro Botelho Maia
 * Bahia: Antônio Fernandes Dantas then Landulfo Alves
 * Ceará: Francisco de Meneses Pimentel
 * Espírito Santo: João Punaro Bley
 * Goiás: Pedro Ludovico Teixeira
 * Maranhão:
 * Mato Grosso: Júlio Strübing Müller
 * Minas Gerais: Benedito Valadares Ribeiro
 * Pará: José Carneiro da Gama Malcher
 * Paraíba: Argemiro de Figueiredo
 * Paraná: Manuel Ribas
 * Pernambuco: Agamenon Magalhães
 * Piauí: Leônidas Melo
 * Rio Grande do Norte: Rafael Fernandes Gurjão
 * Rio Grande do Sul:
 * till 19 January: Manuel de Cerqueira Daltro Filho
 * 19 January-4 March: Joaquim Maurício Cardoso
 * from 4 March: Osvaldo Cordeiro de Farias
 * Santa Catarina: Nereu Ramos
 * São Paulo:
 * till 25 April: José Joaquim Cardoso de Melo Neto
 * 25 April-27 April: Francisco José da Silva Júnior
 * from 27 April: Ademar de Barros
 * Sergipe: Erônides de Carvalho

Vice governors

 * Rio Grande do Norte: no vice governor
 * São Paulo: no vice governor

Events

 * 2 January - The governmental radio program Hora do Brasil begins to be broadcast throughout the country.
 * 3 January - The presidential election is not held due to Getúlio Vargas' coup d'état.
 * May – The Brazilian integralist movement attempt a coup d'état, supported by the Axis powers. The failure of the "Pajama Putsch" leads to the dissolution of the AIB.
 * 28 July – Folk hero Lampião and his band are ambushed in one of his hideouts, the Angicos farm, in the state of Sergipe.
 * date unknown
 * Michel Bernanos visits Brazil for the first time.
 * Mário de Andrade takes up a post at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro.

Films

 * Alma e Corpo de uma Raça
 * Aruanã
 * Maridinho de Luxo
 * Tererê Não Resolve

January

 * 16 January: Jô Soares, comedian and talk show host (died 2022)
 * 27 January: Raul Gil, television presenter and singer

April

 * 5 April: Marly Marley, actress and vedette (died 2014)

June

 * 6 June: Prince Luiz of Orléans-Braganza, pretender to the Brazilian throne (died 2022)

July

 * 23 July: Menalton Braff, novelist and short story writer
 * 25 July: Sérgio Ferro, painter

August

 * 18 August: Orestes Quércia, politician (died 2010)

November

 * 5 November: Enéas Carneiro, politician (died 2007)
 * 25 November: Luiz Henrique Rosa, musician and soccer player (died 1985)

Deaths

 * 28 July:
 * Lampião, bandit (born 1897; killed in a police ambush)
 * Maria Bonita, bandit (born 1911; killed along with her boyfriend Lampião)