The present doctoral thesis aims to analyse the presence of the thought of Antonio Gramsci (1981-1937) in the context of the formative process of the health system as an original element throughout the reading of the Letters from Prison. It aims to highlight, in the letters Gramsci wrote in prison, the importance that the thinker attributed to the pysical and psycological health of everyone around him, including his own and how much he was affected by this condition. For this, we focus mainly on the 478 letters contained in the Brazilian edition of Letters from Prison, published in two volumes, edited by Carlos Nelson Coutinho and having as co-editors Luiz Sérgio Henriques and Marco Aurélio Nogueira. Our methodological proposal, based on bibliographic research, consists in reading the letters in a sequence, obeying the order of the Brazilian edition consulted, in an attempt, not only, to connect external events with prison daily life and the consequences in Gramsci s psychic and physical health, but also, to dimension the place that thematic health occupies in the life of the Sardinian philosopher. Much is known about the centrality of politics in Gramsci s life and writings, however, there is no denying how intensely his life was crossed by other personal issues that became so central, mainly after his imprisonment. The research also shows the influence of Gramsci s thought in the workers struggle in Italy, which inspired the Italian Worker Model (IWM) of worker s health, in the 1960s, in order to direct the reframe of the structures of the health system, as occurred in Brazil with the Sanitary Reform and the implementation of the Unified Health System (SUS) in the 1990s, which had great inspiration in the Italian Sanitary Reform. The thesis presents Gramsci s concerns with health-work relationships, demonstrating work as an educational principle and the usurpation of the creative capacity of the useful working class by capitalism. It shows how much the mechanization of work affects the health of workers, especially those who can t fit in this new production process.