Drauzio Varella is elected to the Brazilian Academy of Letters; he will occupy the chair that belonged to journalist Zuenir Ventura

Doctor and writer Drauzio Varella was elected to the Brazilian Academy of Letters. He will occupy the chair that belonged to journalist Zuenir Ventura.

As the vote for immortals is also secret, the first image is from the end of the election, when the 37 votes were incinerated. Elected by 29 of them, doctor Drauzio Varella will be the new occupant of seat 32, which had been vacant since September with the death of journalist Zuenir Ventura. The chair has also been occupied by writer Ariano Suassuna.

"Drauzio, in addition to writing fundamental books, such as 'Carandiru', is a frequent writer of reviews, in newspapers and magazines. He is always acting as a public figure in defense of health and well-being", says journalist Merval Pereira, president of ABL.

"He is very cultured, educated, a very strong personality, a writer too, right? A doctor of extraordinary competence", says Gilberto Gil, singer, composer and ABL immortal.

It is unlikely to assume that the young man from São Paulo from the Brás neighborhood, who graduated at the age of 24 from the Faculty of Medicine at USP, would have considered one day becoming an immortal member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters. Medicine and information brought Drauzio here. The oncologist specializing in immunology, professor at important universities in Brazil and around the world, is also an excellent communicator. In 1979, he was already on Jornal da Globo talking about the vaccine, BCG.

In 1986, when the world was experiencing an HIV epidemic, Drauzio received an invitation to carry out radio campaigns, alerting the population about ways to prevent the virus. In 1989, during a TV report, Drauzio met Carandiru, where he worked providing voluntary assistance weekly until 2002, when the prison was imploded. He reported part of what he saw and experienced in the book "Estação Carandiru", from 1999, which won the Jabuti award and which was later turned into a film in 2003. In the following years, he continued working in prisons, medicating men and souls. He wrote two other books about the prison universe: "Carcereiros", from 2012, which inspired a series and a feature film, and "Prisioneiras", from 2017.

"What brings happiness in life is what? It's the contradiction, it's the surprise, it's being in contact with other people, seeing how they live. I think the prison gave me this training", said Drauzio Varella in an interview with Roberto D'Ávila in 2023.

In total, he published 24 books. A literature based on the life and work that Drauzio carried out throughout Brazil. His most recent book, for example, "O Sentido das Águas", published in 2025, has stories of people the doctor met and scientific research in which he participated in the Lower Rio Negro region, where, since 1996, he has coordinated a project to study the use of Amazonian plants in the development of medicines to combat diseases such as cancer.

Doctor and writer Drauzio Varella is elected to the Brazilian Academy of Letters — Photo: Jornal Nacional/ Reproduction

Between 2000 and 2023, there were 14 series on Fantástico, covering all types of subjects: from pregnancy to the effectiveness of medicinal herbs, allergies, depression, aging, Down syndrome. An extensive medical encyclopedia open to millions of Brazilians on Sunday nights.

"I don't think a Brazilian doctor has ever been given the chance to have this reach, to take a broadcaster like TV Globo, take a program like Fantástico, every Sunday night, and say: 'Look, say what you want, what you think is important for the population'. I have always faced this with the greatest responsibility", says Drauzio Varella, doctor, writer and ABL immortal.

In addition to pop, Drauzio is tech. At 80 years old, he has almost 6 million followers on social media, where he also shares information.

Doctors are part of the tradition of the Brazilian Academy of Letters. The most notable of them is perhaps Guimarães Rosa, author of "Grande Sertão: Veredas". Drauzio has a different style, but the same curiosity for investigating the human spirit, whether he is imprisoned in a tiny jail cell or living in the vastness of the forest.

"Everything I wrote was the result of experience. Always the fruit of work, you know? Of you going after the stories, then spending a lot of time gathering, writing. I want to see if now I can use these things I learned to contribute to the Academia Brasileira de Letras", says Drauzio Varella.