The Correspondence between José Lutzenberger and León Croizat: Knowledge Flow and Environmentalist Action in Latin America

Abstract

Brazilian agronomist and environmentalist José Lutzenberger (1926-2002) and Italian botanist León Croizat (1894-1982) exchanged extensive correspondence between 1966 and 1974. The article analyses the set of documents, which can be found in José Lutzenberger’s Private Collection (APJL). First of all, we will draw a sketch of the biographies of the correspondents, both self-taught in botany. Furthermore, our objective is to focus on the main themes addressed in this correspondence: the exchange of plants, seeds and botanical knowledge, as well as the authors’ perceptions of the global ecological situation. Through this correspondence, Lutzenberger and Croizat built a network of knowledge exchanges that allows us to get into important aspects of Latin American environmental history.