Irajá Damiani Pinto (July 3, 1919 – June 21, 2014), was a Brazilian

paleontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of foss ...

and professor at the

Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul The Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul ( pt, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, UFRGS) is a Brazilian public federal research university based in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. UFRGS is among the largest and highest-rated univ ...

(UFRGS in Portuguese), a member of the

Brazilian Academy of Sciences The Brazilian Academy of Sciences ( pt, italic=yes, Academia Brasileira de Ciências or ''ABC'') is the national academy of Brazil. It is headquartered in the city of Rio de Janeiro and was founded on May 3, 1916. Publications It publishes a lar ...

, and a two time president of the Brazilian Geological Society.

Biography

Irajá Damiani Pinto was born in

Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, , Brazilian ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of 1,488,252 inhabitants (2020) makes it the List of largest cities in Brazil, twelfth most populous city in the country ...

, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, on July 3, 1919 Curriculo de Irajá Damiani Pinto.
/ref> He studied ''Ginásio Nossa Senhora do Rosário''. Attended the 2nd grade at ''Colégio Universitário Estadual Julio de Castilhos''. In 1942, he began his studies of Natural History in the Faculty of Philosophy of the then University of Porto Alegre. He graduated BA in 1944. In 1945, even as a student in the undergraduate course, was hired as Assistant Chair of Geology and Paleontology. That year he participated in his first scientific excursion led by Dr. Llewellyn Ivor Price, who contributed much to his scientific orientation. In 1945 he carried out the DNPM, in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of the same name, Brazil's List of Brazilian states by population, third-most populous state, and the List of largest citi ...

, with Dr. Paul Ericksen de Oliveira and directed by Dr. Llewellyn Ivor Price, and began the library of Geology and Paleontology at the University. In 1957 he helped create the course in

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ea ...

UFRGS The Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul ( pt, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, UFRGS) is a Brazilian public federal research university based in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. UFRGS is among the largest and highest-rated univ ...

, one of the first in Brazil. The genus of

cynodont The cynodonts () ( clade Cynodontia) are a clade of eutheriodont therapsids that first appeared in the Late Permian (approximately 260 mya), and extensively diversified after the Permian–Triassic extinction event. Cynodonts had a wide variet ...

Irajatherium ''Irajatherium'' is an extinct genus of cynodonts, known only of the type species ''Irajatherium hernandezi''.Martinelli et al., 2005 It is named in honor of Irajá Damiani Pinto. Species ''Irajatherium hernandezi'' is a species known only b ...

'' is in his honor, in addition to the Museum of Paleontology Irajá Damiani Pinto.

References

* Book: ''Os Fascinantes Caminhos da Paleontologia.'' Author : ''Antônio Isaia.'' Publisher Pallotti. (''Portuguese'') * Book: "''Cronologia Histórica de Santa Maria e do extinto município de São Martinho.''" 1787-1933. Vol I. Author: ''Romeu Beltrão'', Publisher ''Pallotti'', 1958. (''Portuguese'') Brazilian paleontologists People from Porto Alegre Recipients of the Great Cross of the National Order of Scientific Merit (Brazil) 1919 births 2014 deaths Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul faculty {{Brazil-scientist-stub