The nephrologist and retired professor from the Faculty of Medical Sciences (FCM) at Unicamp, José Francisco Figueiredo, passed away in the early hours of Monday, the 26th. Also passing away last Friday, the 23rd, was linguist Lucy Seki, who was a professor at the Institute of Language Studies (IEL) and dedicated herself to indigenous language.
José Francisco Figueiredo
The nephrologist and retired professor from the Faculty of Medical Sciences (FCM) at Unicamp, José Francisco Figueiredo, passed away in the early hours of Monday, the 26th. Professor Figueiredo graduated in Medicine from Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho (Unesp-1969) and was an assistant professor in the Discipline of Nephrology at EPM (Unifesp-1973-1976), with a doctorate in Nephrology from Escola Paulista de Medicina (1976) , followed by post-doctorate at Cornell University Medical College - NY (1976-1979). He was an adjunct professor at EPM (1980-1986).
He joined Unicamp in 1986, where he held the position of full professor in Nephrology since 1998. He was an advisor and researcher at the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), advisor and researcher at the São Paulo State Research Support Foundation ( Fapesp) and Associate of the Brazilian Society of Nephrology. Figueiredo had experience in the area of Physiology, with an emphasis on Physiology of Organs and Systems, Function, Conservation and Kidney Transplantation. Even though he was retired, he had worked since 2004 as a volunteer collaborating professor at the Department of Surgery at FCM and also carried out research at the Experimental Nephrology Laboratory at FCM. In 2017, he was honored during FCM's Xth Research Week for his work on the faculty's Research Committee from 1984 to 1988.
Lucy Seki
Lucy Seki, a professor at the Institute of Language Studies (IEL) at Unicamp, passed away last Friday (23) in Campinas, aged 78. She was head of the area of Anthropological Linguistics and, for decades, was an "ambassador" in South American indigenous languages, author of the renowned grammar of the Kamaiurá language. She was reputed as the greatest Brazilian specialist in languages krenak e Kamaiurá. More recently, Lucy released the book What Lived in the Mouths of Our Ancestors, a bilingual collection (Portuguese and Kamaiurá) of mythical narratives of the Kamaiurá Indians. Lately, having retired, she remained a volunteer collaborating professor at the Department of Linguistics at Unicamp.
The teacher graduated in History from the Federal University of Minas Gerais and obtained her master's degree (1969) and doctorate (1973) in Linguistics from the Patrice Lumumba University, in Moscow. She did postdoctoral studies at the University of Texas at Austin (USA). Since 1977, she taught at Unicamp. In 2010, she was elected an honorary member of the Linguistic Society of America (LSA), in recognition of her substantial contributions to linguistics.
He worked on the "Training of Indigenous Teachers in Parque Xingu" project since the beginning of its implementation, having also advised on the Training of Indigenous Teachers of Rondônia project. From 2000 onwards, she provided assistance to the project “Training indigenous teachers Kayapó, Panará and Tapayuna Goronã”. She was the author and coordinator of the integrated project (CNPq) “History and linguistic knowledge of the indigenous peoples of the Xingu Park, with the participation of researchers and students from different Brazilian institutions. She created the magazine LIAMES (American Indian Languages), the only one completely dedicated to these languages. Read more. Watch the video below.
Follow the text published on Journal of Unicamp in 2006 addressing the work of indigenous linguistic preservation, in which Lucy Seki was mentioned alongside IEL professors Wilmar Rocha D'Angelis and Angel Corbera Mori.
At the Vanguard of Preservation of Indigenous Linguistic Heritage
