One hundred thirty years of Dom Pedro II’s death: “The emperor of the tropics” and the beginning of Brazilian Psychiatry

Abstract

Objective: Associate Dom Pedro II’s life trajectory and the beginning of Brazilian psychiatry through the Pedro II Asylum. Methods: We conducted a narrative review of the literature on three search databases: Google Scholar, PubMed, and Web of Science (SciELO). Results: The first Brazilian psychiatry institution, the Pedro II Asylum (1841-1889), was created by the number 82 decree on 18 July 1841. The launching occurred at Dom Pedro II’s coronation ceremony. It was a celebration that aimed at enhancing the Brazilian monarch’s power and at legitimizing the emperor’s adulthood at the age of fourteen. Throughout the 48 years of the Dom Pedro II empire, his cultural and science interests influenced the emergence of incipient Brazilian scientific research. In this regard, the Pedro II Asylum was portrayed not only as a health care institution but also undertook an effort to attend the social and cultural modifications promoted at the Brazilian imperial court after the Portuguese Crown family arrived in 1808. It also represented the influence of French psychiatry based on Phillipe Pinel’s (1745-1826) principles of moral treatment. Conclusions: Concisely, the Pedro II Asylum was a representation of Dom Pedro II’s personality as a patron of science, the emergence of Brazilian psychiatry, and the imperial society hierarchy.