Drauzio Varella, 80: the books the doctor likes the most – 04/29/2023 – Cotidiano

Doctor Drauzio Varella turns 80 next Wednesday (3). Also a renowned writer, he has among his favorites the best seller “Estação Carandiru” (1999), the first of his 18 works.

A marathon runner for more than three decades, he says he is part of a generation that has experienced longevity and says he does not intend to slow down the frantic pace of his numerous activities, as he tells in an interview with Sheet.

Here are some facts about his career:

Drauzio by Drauzio – The writer’s favorite books

“Carandiru Station” (1999)
“It is my strongest book for all the repercussions it had. And for the fact that it was my first book. It was published on a Wednesday and, at the weekend, it was the front page of the culture section of all newspapers. I have a very strong connection with the book.”

“In the streets of Brás” (2000)
“I really like this children’s book, very well illustrated by Maria Eugênia. After I wrote Carandiru, I thought: “what am I going to write now? I will be unmasked. Everyone praising the book, thinking it was the best. The next one I’m going to write, they’re going to say: ‘the guy got lucky with that book'”. Then Maria Emília [Bender], who was my editor at the time, said: why don’t you make a children’s book? I had never thought. I decided to tell my story of the ten years I lived in Brás, a working-class neighborhood full of factories. The little book won an award at the International Book Fair in Bologna, Italy.”

“In the Waters of the Rio Negro” (2017)
“I tell stories about the Amazon. I went over a hundred times to that region of the Rio Negro to do research work. The book was very well illustrated by Odilon Moraes. The interesting thing is that the book takes place in the Amazon rainforest and there is no green in the illustration. It’s a magical book, it took that magic from the stories told, all in pastel tones.”

“Prisoners” (2017)
“I tell stories from the time I worked at the women’s penitentiary, from 2006 to 2019. I came to understand a little better what a woman was like, the complexity of the female soul, in jail. In 2006, I was already 63 years old, a doctor treating countless women with breast cancer, but I only understood the female condition inside the penitentiary.

“The Uncertainty Exercise” (2022)
“It’s not an autobiographical book, it’s a reflection on medicine. I like this book because it’s a reflection of 50 years of my life, counting the student phase, in medical school. I was able to make a general overview. It’s nice when we makes this reflection with the profession.”

1943 – On May 3, Drauzio Varella is born, son of accountant José Varella and housewife Lidia Varella. He lost his mother at the age of 4.
1962 – Second place in the entrance exam, he enters the Faculty of Medicine of USP. In the same year, he began teaching at the 9 de Julho course.
1965 – In the third year of college, together with João Carlos di Genio, he founded the Objective course, where he taught chemistry for many years.
1967 – become a doctor
1970 – Works with Professor Vicente Amato Neto, in the area of ​​infectious diseases at the Public Servant Hospital of São Paulo
1974 – Starts at the immunology service at Hospital do Câncer (SP) and remains there for 20 years
1981 – He met actress Regina Braga, when he sought out the Museum of Modern Art to take a theater course, and they have been together ever since.
1985 – Participates in a conference on AIDS in Sweden. On his return, he publishes an article about the new disease in the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo.
1986 – Under the guidance of journalist Fernando Vieira de Melo, he began campaigns on AIDS prevention, first on Jovem Pan AM radio and later on 89 FM in São Paulo.
1989 to 2002 – He worked as a volunteer physician at the Carandiru Detention House.
1999 – He launches the book “Estação Carandiru”, published by Companhia das Letras, in which he tells his stories as a doctor for the inmates.
2000 – Receives the Jabuti Award, in the non-fiction category. In the same year, he starts a weekly column in Sheet and participation in series on the program Fantástico (TV Globo)
2003 – “Estação Carandiru” wins the cinema screens in a film by director Hector Babenco.
2004 – On one of his trips to the Amazon region, he contracted yellow fever, which almost led to his death.
2007 – Launches the book “The Sick Doctor” in which he reports the experience