In a ceremony marked by the defense of university autonomy, the session extraordinary meeting of the University Council (Consu) held this Friday afternoon (2), granted the title of professor emeritus at Unicamp to the lawyer and economist Luiz Gonzaga de Mello Belluzzo.
According to the Council, the distinction is due to the important Belluzzo's contribution as an economist and political thinker and for his extensive list of relevant publications that exerted significant influence in academia. In three moments of the ceremony, which lasted around two hours, Belluzzo received a standing ovation from the audience that filled Auditorium III of the Convention Center.
The ceremony brought together close relatives of the honoree, friends and a large number of economists – among them, Guido Mantega, former Minister of Finance, Gabriel Galípolo, executive secretary of the Ministry of Finance and appointed to the Monetary Policy directorate of the Central Bank, Guilherme Mello, current secretary of Economic Policy, and Luciano Coutinho, former president of BNDES (National Bank for Economic and Social Development). The granting of the title was also attended by the former deans of Unicamp José Tadeu Jorge, Marcelo Knobel and Carlos Vogt and the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil Aloisio Nunes Ferreira.
The proposal to grant the title was presented by the Institute of Economics (IE) after unanimous approval by the IE Congregation. It was then ratified by a special commission formed by economists Luciano Coutinho (president) and Leda Paulani and jurist Eros Grau.
Graduated in Law and Social Sciences from USP (University of São Paulo), Belluzzo entered the postgraduate course in Economic Development promoted by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). Also cplayed an important role in the beginning of the IE installation process at Unicamp.
Having become a doctor in Economics in 1975 and a full professor at IE in 1986, Belluzzo was celebrated at the ceremony as one of the main people responsible for articulating the budgetary autonomy of the three public state universities in São Paulo – a mechanism that guaranteed regular investments in these institutions and provided the necessary support for their development.
The rector of Unicamp, Antonio José de Almeida Meirelles, recalled that autonomy is a milestone in the life of the three universities and also of Fapesp (São Paulo State Research Support Foundation). Meirelles believes that there was a leap in quality in the institutions after that, both in the development of research in all areas of knowledge and in the training of professionals and extension work.
“This is the result of an action taken 30 years ago, in which Professor Belluzzo was the protagonist”, said the rector. According to Meirelles, the academic community assesses that this was the most important and decisive public policy measure in Brazil's science and technology system. “The scientific community and Brazil should thank him for this”, added the rector.
Belluzzo thanked him for the title, minimized the weight of his participation in the process of granting autonomy to universities and in studies on the country's economy and declared his love for the University. "Unicamp is the great passion of my life”, he said. “Perhaps it even matches the passion I have for Palmeiras”, added the professor, receiving warm applause from the audience.
In an informal speech lasting around 20 minutes, Belluzzo recalled the moment he arrived at Unicamp together with his friend João Manuel Cardoso de Melo, back in the 1970s. He recalled the difficulties that universities faced during the military dictatorship, highlighting the support that the teachers received it from the founder of Unicamp, professor Zeferino Vaz, and cited the institutional crises that occurred in the 1980s.
Melo, the godfather appointed by IE to honor Belluzzo, spoke about the almost 70 years of friendship that unite them, about the struggles they fought against the military regime and about the difficulties they had to overcome when they arrived at Unicamp.
In 2001, Belluzzo was included in the Biographical Dictionary of Dissenting Economists among the hundred greatest heterodox economists of the 2005th century. He received the Juca Pato Trophy Intellectual of the Year Award in XNUMX. And he is considered the best heterodox economist in Brazil due to his interpretations of, suggestions for and criticism of Brazilian society from the perspective of Karl Marx and John Maynard Keynes.
"It is no exaggeration to say that Belluzzo established an absolutely original and consistent interpretation of the works of Marx and Keynes. The monumental work of the two notable thinkers of capitalism was dissected, refined and reevaluated in a thorough way by Belluzzo”, says an excerpt from the justification presented by professor Frederico Mazzucchelli along with the proposal from the IE Congregation that recommended the granting of the title. “This effort alone would be enough to establish him as one of the main economists of his time”, continues the justification.
"A rare intellectual, Belluzzo is a permanent professor. His comprehensive culture, his acute intelligence, his prodigious memory and his passion for knowledge have made him a safe compass for everyone who wants to reflect in depth on the economy and society in the contemporary world”, adds Mazzucchelli.
Until mid-2022, his CV recorded 14 books and a few dozen chapters and prefaces published, in addition to 18 articles in refereed journals. Belluzzo played an essential role in training intellectuals, professors and economists who stand out in various fields: he was the main advisor or co-supervisor of 34 master's theses and 44 doctoral theses. He retired from Unicamp in 2001, but has since continued as a collaborator in disciplines, seminars, research projects and discussions on various topics.
Belluzzo actively participated in public life. He was Secretary of Economic Policy at the Ministry of Finance under Dílson Funaro. He was also Secretary of Science and Technology of the State of São Paulo, a position in which he distinguished himself by leading – as determined by the then governor, Orestes Quércia – the process that led to the financial autonomy of São Paulo's universities.
Belluzzo was a member of the Superior Council of Fapesp between 1992 and 1995 and later between 2007 and 2013. He was a member and the first president of the Board of Trustees of Empresa Brasil de Comunicação (EBC, which operates TV Brasil). Between 2003 and 2007 he was also a member of the Economic and Social Development Council (CDES), of the Civil House of the Presidency of the Republic.
First title
The director of IE, professor André Biancarelli, recalled that the emeritus title granted this Friday to Belluzzo is the first in the history of the institute. According to Biancarelli, Belluzzo operates beyond the walls of the University, as he participates in an extensive list of councils and associations in the public and private sectors and non-governmental organizations. “Belluzzo is one of the most influential people in Brazil. A remarkable intellectual. A decisive public man and a generous and cordial teacher”, concluded the director.
Watch the ceremony broadcast live on Canal Imprensa Unicamp: