Who was Renato Kehl, the eugenic doctor who gave his name to the street in Limeira and defended 'racial improvement'

Who was Renato Kehl, the eugenic doctor who gave his name to the street in Limeira and defended 'racial improvement' Brasiliana Fotográfico/Academia Nacional de Medicina “Meritorious citizen” and example of “work, honesty and dedication”. This is how the doctor Renato Kehl, one of the main promoters of eugenics in Brazil, was described by the municipal decree that gave his name to a street in Parque Hippólyto, in Limeira (SP), the city where he was born. ? Renato Ferraz Kehl was one of the most radical eugenicists in South America and defended the “racial improvement” of the population, with measures such as immigration control, sterilization of people with ethnicities he considered "inferior" and restrictions on marriages between different races. For historian Vanderlei Sebastião de Souza, professor at the State University of the Center-West (Unicentro), Kehl's opinions conflict with fundamental principles of human rights, celebrated this Wednesday (12) with National Human Rights Day. ? Click to the g1 Piracicaba channel on WhatsApp "Historical figures who were involved in crimes or violent, discriminatory ideas always need to be studied precisely so that society knows the extent of the violence of these ideas. Instead of paying homage, what we should do is promote critical and public debates that bring this to light", said the historian. The naming took place in 1982, when all the streets in that neighborhood were no longer known by numbers and began to receive their own names. In the same decree, other notable citizens were also honored with Kehl, such as President Juscelino Kubitschek. However, according to the Limeira Chamber, the discussion about changing the name of Rua Renato Kehl has been under analysis by the Human Rights Commission since August 2025. Currently, councilors are working on drafting a formal proposal to change the street's name. Regarding the possibility of change, Limeira City Hall informed that it is open to discussing the matter with historians and postal services. According to the administration, a possible change in the name of Rua Dr. Renato Kehl involves legal and practical issues. In the capital of São Paulo, there is also Rua Doutor Renato Ferraz Kehl, in the Chácara Cocaia region. g1 contacted the São Paulo City Hall (SP) and the São Paulo Chamber, which did not respond until the last update of this report. ? What will you see in this report? What was eugenics The ideology propagated by Renato Kehl Political influence and action in government How to remember figures linked to eugenics What the Limeira Chamber says What the Limeira City Council says What eugenics was Eugenics was a movement that gained strength at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. Loaded with prejudices, it defended racist theories, which classified some ethnicities as superior and inferior. It also discriminated against non-European people and advocated “purification” policies. As in many places around the world, ideas were presented to the population and were not seen as absurd or extreme. On the contrary: for many, they were considered supported by scientific knowledge. In Brazil, there were two currents of eugenicists: the moderates believed that it was possible to improve the conditions of the population through measures such as basic sanitation; and radicals, like Kehl, who wanted to control reproduction and advocated direct biological interventions. According to Vanderlei, the eugenics movement lost strength after the Second World War. This occurred because Nazism took these ideas to the extreme, creating policies of persecution and extermination in concentration camps. Faced with the tragedy, the world rethought eugenics. In 1948, the United Nations approved the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, establishing that all people have fundamental rights and freedoms, without distinction of race, religion or any other characteristic. "Aggressions against human rights, racism and even eugenic views about the world continue to exist. We cannot say that eugenics has disappeared from the world stage. Renato Kehl himself died in 1974 and in the 1950s and 1970s he continued writing about eugenics. Even when the world was already condemning this science", said Vanderlei. The ideology propagated by Renato Kehl