Chico Xavier

Chico Xavier (Portuguese: [??iku ??vi???]) or Francisco Cândido Xavier, born Francisco de Paula Cândido ([f????sisku d?i ?pawl? ?k??d?idu], April 2, 1910 – June 30, 2002), was a popular philanthropist and medium in Spiritism. During a period of 60 years he wrote over 490 books and several thousand letters claiming to use a process known as "psychography and after his death many dozens of books were issued based on old letters and manuscripts which gradually became public bringing the total number of books up to 496". The books written by Chico covered a vast range of topics from religion, philosophy, historical romances and novels, Portuguese Literature, poetry, scientific as well as thousand letters intended to inform, console and uplift the families of deceased persons during his psychografic sessions. His books sold an estimated 50 million copies and the revenue generated by it was totally channeled into charity work. Xavier was born in the city of Pedro Leopoldo, State of Minas Gerais and is popularly known as "Chico Xavier" (Chico is the Portuguese nickname for Francisco). Xavier called his spiritual guide Emmanuel, who according to Xavier, lived in ancient Rome as Senator Publius Lentulus, was reincarnated in Spain as Father Damien, and later as a professor at the Sorbonne. Xavier claimed he was a channel for the work of the spirits and that he was not able to produce any miracle such as healing people. He often mentioned he could not contact a deceased person unless the spirit was willing to be contacted. His appearances on TV talk shows in the late 1960s and early 1970s helped to establish Spiritism Doctrine as one of the major philosophies professed in Brazil with more than 5 million followers. Xavier's popularity remained unchanged in Brazil throughout his life. Despite his health problems he kept working up to his death, on June 30, 2002 in Uberaba. In 2010, a movie biography entitled Chico Xavier was released in Brazil. Directed by Daniel Filho, the film dramatized Xavier's life. On October 3, 2012, the SBT television TV show O Maior Brasileiro de Todos os Tempos named Chico Xavier "The Greatest Brazilian of all time", based on a viewer-supported survey.