The numerous tributes paid to Arnaldo Lopes Süssekind after his death on July 9, 2012, highlight his unique role in the history of labor law, given the brilliant fulfillment of the countless roles he held, from his youth until his final days. He was a man of many realities: liberal and social; past and present; law, administration, and justice; theory and practice; Brazil and the world.
An icon of Brazilian laborism, Süssekind was born in Rio de Janeiro on July 9, 1917. On the other side of the planet, in the midst of the Russian Revolution, the date marked a curious middle ground between the "liberal" phase (the so-called "February Revolution") and the "socialist" phase (the so-called "October Revolution") of that movement. A harbinger of the man who knew how to temper the defense of the most basic freedoms with a deep desire for social progress.
Consistent with his lifelong convictions, Süssekind was a member of the Commission of Jurists that drafted the Consolidation of Labor Laws, established in 1942, in its golden age of twenty-four, alongside Segadas Viana, Oscar Saraiva, Rego Monteiro, and Lacerda Marcondes. The CLT gained life and positivity and, since then, has supported generations and generations of labor advocates. Nevertheless, seventy years later, Süssekind would continue to be persistently consulted, officially and unofficially, on the various proposals for reforming Brazilian labor laws. And not by chance. Süssekind demonstrated, with his firm intellectual strides, that it is possible to overcome the mists of time without abandoning principles and, at the same time, without closing his eyes to the changing times.
In the Executive Branch, Süssekind served as Minister of Labor and Social Security—and also Minister of Agriculture—for eleven of the thirteen days of Ranieri Mazzilli's presidency (1964). Under the military government, he continued to serve as Minister of Labor and Social Security, from April 20, 1964, to December 7, 1965. Subsequently, between 1965 and 1971, he served as Minister of the Superior Labor Court, honoring the ranks of the Judiciary and developing ideas that still resonate within that society today (to the point of being considered the most cited author by the Superior Labor Court—cf. Anuário da Justiça Brasil 2011). Internationally, he served for many years on the Committee of Experts of the International Labor Organization, which also paid him a fitting tribute at the time of his death. In the intellectual sphere, he was also a member of the Ibero-American Academy of Labor Law and Social Security, the Brazilian Academy of Legal Letters and the National Academy of Labor Law.
His body lay in state in the Labor Cultural Center building, where the Ministry of Labor once stood, when the federal capital was still headquartered in Rio de Janeiro.
Nothing could be more emblematic.
The raison d'être of Labor Law is to promote and protect the dignity of all those who live off the alienation of their labor power. Dedicating one's life to Labor Law is, therefore, dedicating it to the promotion and protection of human dignity. By intertwining his personal story with the history of Labor Law, Arnaldo Lopes Süssekind taught those who remain the definitive lesson: seeing in others their human condition is the most eloquent way to reveal our own humanity.
Our tribute to this great figure, who never tired of reminding us of our own humanity. May he rest rewarded for the immense work he devoted to the world of work. Working for the sake of work: in the circles of practical reason, the most virtuous. Nothing could be more descriptive.
We who knew him call such virtue by its proper name.
Brasília, October 2012.
The Editorial Board