Paul Bouts and the Short Life of Psychognomy in Brazil

Abstract

Paul Bouts (1900–1999) was a Belgian pedagogue, a Roman Catholic priest, and the founder of Psychognomy, which is a personality diagnostic system combining phrenology and several related practices – typology, craniofacial measurements, physiognomy, graphology etc. Bouts had a fragile health; therefore, it is unlikely that he travelled to Brazil. Despite this, his most famous book, rich in conservative and religious thoughts, was translated to Portuguese and published with ecclesiastic support in 1943, and the doctrine acquired good reputation among Brazilian members of the clergy, politicians, teachers, and military personnel. Lay scholars and medical doctors founded a Brazilian institute devoted to the study and diffusion of psychognomy in 1949. They published two volumes of a psychognomy treatise, and the institute was active until the early 1960s, when social interest in the subject rapidly vanished.