Olavo de Carvalho

Olavo Luiz Pimentel de Carvalho was a Brazilian self-proclaimed philosopher, political pundit, astrologer, journalist, and far-right conspiracy theorist. While publishing about politics, literature, and philosophy since the 1980s, he became known to wider Brazilian audiences from the 1990s onwards, mainly writing columns for major Brazilian media outlets. In the 2000s, he began using personal blogs and social media to convey his conservative and anti-communist ideas. In the late 2010s, he rose to prominence in the Brazilian public debate, being dubbed the "intellectual father of the new right" and the ideologue of Jair Bolsonaro, a label he rejected. His books and articles spread conspiracy theories and false information, and he was accused of fomenting hate speech and anti-intellectualism. He positioned himself as a critic of modernity. His interests included historical philosophy, the history of revolutionary movements, the Traditionalist School, and comparative religion. His views were rejected by mainstream philosophers. From 2005 until his death, he lived near Richmond, Virginia, in the United States. He died in 2022 several days after testing positive for COVID-19.