Cassiano Ricardo

Cassiano Ricardo (July 26, 1895 – January 14, 1974) was a Brazilian journalist, literary critic, and poet.

An exponent of the nationalistic tendencies of Brazilian modernism, he was associated with the Green-Yellow and Anta groups of the movement before launching the Flag group, a social-democratic reaction to these groups. His work evolved into concrete poetry at the end of his career.

Early life
Cassiano Ricardo was born in São José dos Campos, São Paulo in 1895.

Career
Ricardo, formerly a Symbolist poet, became a late adherent to Brazilian modernism and co-founded the mystical nationalist journal Novíssima. In the following year, 1926, he launched the Green-Yellow movement, with Menotti del Picchia, Cândido Motta Filho and Plínio Salgado. In 1928, he co-founded the Flag group, again with Menotti del Picchia and Cândido Motta Filho.

His 1928 book Marcha para Oeste supported the frontier for being both anti-liberal and democratic. He held a hierarchical view of such a society with the whites holding "the spirit of adventure and command".

In 1937, he was elected to the Brazilian Academy of Letters, where he campaigned for the Modernist poets to be formally recognized and appreciated.