Grandpa Indian

Grandpa Indian
Grandpa Indian by Euclides da Fonseca
Grandpa Indian by Euclides da Fonseca[1]
First appearance11 December 1932
Created byChristovam de Camargo
Designed byEuclides da Fonseca
In-universe information
ReligionCatholic
NationalityBrazilian

Grandpa Indian (Portuguese: Vovô Índio) is a character conceived in the 1930s with the intention of replacing Santa Claus in Brazil. His aim was to inflate patriotic sentiments among the Brazilian population.[2] The dissemination of the character in the 1930s took place through the Integralist press, whose movement was rooted in Brazilian nationalism with fascist undertones. According to a chronicle in the 1934 Christmas edition of Correio da Manhã, Santa Claus would be deemed a "ridiculous figure" and out of place in a "land of warmth and intense sunlight", where "this chilly and stern old man was becoming impertinent".[3][𝔓 1]

Depicted as an elderly gentleman who is "very friendly to the trees", adorned in "feathers of all the colors of the birds", who generously bestows gifts upon Brazilian children, Grandpa Indian faced criticism and mockery upon his debut, and by 1938 he had virtually disappeared.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Revista Internacional d'Humanitats was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference The Oxford Handbook of Christmas was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Folha de S.Paulo was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


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