Os “travailleurs de la mort” na obra de Flamínio Fávero

Abstract

Forensic Entomology is the application of knowledge about insects and other arthropods when related to legal issues. Medical-Legal Entomology studies the entomological fauna that has a direct relationship with the human body, living or dead. In the book “Medicina Legal,” by Flamínio Fávero, a chapter dedicated to chronothanatognosis describes the applications of cadaveric fauna in determining time of death. Through Fávero’s work, we gain insight into the early development of this science in Brazil. Although he never conducted experiments or made personal observations involving insects, he compiles information from pioneering scientists in the field. The emergence of entomology applied to Legal Medicine in Brazil is associated with the figures of Hermann Lüderwaldt, Edgard Roquette-Pinto and Oscar Freire de Carvalho. The latter represents the researcher who most contributed to the initial years of cadaveric fauna studies in Brazil; the information he gathered forms the bulk of Flamínio’s main book.