History
It was founded on September 7, 1920, by President Epitácio Pessoa, upon gathering a number of independent public institutions of higher education in the city. By then, Rio was the Brazilian capital and the federal government sought to stimulate scientific production in the nation's booming economy. Some of the colleges and schools which form UFRJ date back to the United Kingdom of Portugal and Brazil and to the Brazilian Empire, such as the Escola Politécnica (Polytechnical School - founded in 1792), Faculdade Nacional de Direito (National Law School - founded in 1882 and reestablished in 1891), Escola Nacional de Belas Artes (National School of Fine Arts) and the Faculdade de Medicina (Medicine School).
The university was named Universidade do Rio de Janeiro. It was later renamed Universidade do Brasil, on July 5, 1937. On December 17, 1945, the university achieved the status of full autonomy under the Brazilian Ministry of Education. In 1965 it was renamed as Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, according to the federal university system devised by the military government of Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco. In 2000, the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro requested to retain its former title of Universidade do Brasil, on the grounds of the imposition of the current name by the military dictatorship during the 1960s. The request was granted and today the university may be called either name.
On the occasion of its foundation in 1920, the University was formed by joining three independent higher learning schools:
- Faculdade de Medicina (Faculty of Medicine, the former Academia de Medicina e Cirurgia, which was created in 1808 by a decree of King D. João VI)
- Escola Politécnica (Polytechnic School, considered the oldest engineering school in America )
- Faculdade Nacional de Direito (National Faculty of Law)
Other units were incorporated, such as the Escola Nacional de Belas Artes (National School of Fine Arts) and the Faculdade Nacional de Filosofia (National Faculty of Philosophy).
A beautiful set of buildings of neoclassical design - originally constructed to be a sanatorium - was used for the new university, located at Avenida Pasteur, in the Urca district of the city, near the Praia Vermelha. During the 20th Century, due to the university's expansion, an entire set of islands (nowadays merged as one sole island - the Fundão Island) on Guanabara Bay was set apart for the construction of buildings which today host the university's administration and several of its colleges and research centers. Fundão is nowadays its main campus and many Brazilians refer to UFRJ simply as "Fundão".
UFRJ is ranked as one of the best universities in Brazil, ,.
Read more about this topic: Federal University Of Rio De Janeiro
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