Gymnastics, Hygiene and Eugenics in Brazil at the Turn of the Twentieth Century

The aim of this study was to describe the influence of medical knowledge on the organisation of school gymnastics in Brazil, in the nineteenth century and at the beginning of the twentieth century. For this purpose, the following sources were used: PhD theses approved by the Faculties of Medicine in Rio de Janeiro and Bahia state, and documents from the Academia Nacional de Medicina and the Escola Normal de São Paulo. It was concluded that the hygienist mentality was fundamental for the diffusion of gymnastics in the Brazilian context.