Luis Martins De Souza Dantas (1876 - 1954) served as the Brazilian ambassador to France before and during World War II. The Nazi occupation imposed strict anti-Jewish laws, including mandatory registration, segregation, curfews, and deportation to concentration camps. Acting against the law, Dantas issued Brazilian visas to save some 800 Jews, communists, and other persecuted people, including the influential investment banker and financial advisor Felix G. Rohatyn and, at the age of 12, the legendary art dealer Leo Castelli. Dantas became the Brazilian equivalent of the German industrialist Oskar Schindler.
Later, Luís Martins De Souza Dantas was investigated by Brazilian authorities and sent back home to face charges of violating the country's immigration policy. He was saved from prosecution by a legal mechanism. After the end of the war, Dantas returned to France, where he spent the rest of his life, and in 2003, Israel honored him with the "Righteous Among the Nations" award.
After the devastation of World War I, the League of Nations was born with a speech by American President Wilson. Under the leadership of George Dejean, the organization produced an anthology that included written commentaries on peace by notable people from around the world. Between 1925 and 1932, submissions were received from royalty, politicians, artists, musicians, and writers, including Dantas, Queen Elizabeth of Belgium, Marie Curie, Einstein, Baden-Powell, King Faisal, Maginot, Colette, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Pirandello, Unamuno, Le Corbusier, Foujita, etc. The collaboration resulted in a limited edition publication called Pax Mundi: The Book of Peace.
Dantas's thinking, a decade before he risked his life for his principles during the Holocaust, consequently constitutes a unique and exceptional document.
