Celso Furtado, eminente pensador da questão regional brasileira

Celso Furtado ranks among the most important thinkers about regional development in Brazil, especially with respect to the Northeast region, and also in policy design. This position is inseparable from his activities since the late 1950s, after an intellectual trajectory that included experiences in  France and in the ECLAC, in Santiago (Chile). Based on bibliographic and documentary research, the article looks at this trajectory seeking to observe the influences of those experiences in Furtado's thinking on the regional issues, as well as on his propositions regarding the Northeast region of Brazil. His contributions in the 1980s, after being away for many years in exile, are also presented and discussed.