Afrânio Coutinho

Afrânio Coutinho ( born March 15, 1911 in Salvador da Bahia, † August 5, 2000 in Rio de Janeiro) was a Brazilian literary critic and author.

Coutinho studied medicine, but soon turned to the literature. After abroad he became a professor at the Colégio Pedro II and at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro ( UFRJ ). In 1962 he was elected to the Academia Brasileira de Letras, where he occupied the 33 cadeira. At the UFRJ he founded in 1965 the Faculty of literature and its director until his retirement in 1981.

Coutinho is a specialist in Machado de Assis; his private library formed the basis for Founded in 1979, Oficina Literaria Afrânio Coutinho ( OLAC ) ( now part of the Faculty of literature UFRJ ).