Padre Manoel Antonio Gomes Himalaya - O Occidente (10Nov1906)

Manuel António Gomes (9 December 1868 – 21 December 1933) was a Portuguese Catholic priest, inventor and physicist. He was a very tall man, and was nicknamed ''Father Himalaya'' (in Portuguese: ''Padre Himalaya''), a name he proudly used frequently. He was born at Santiago de Cendufe,

Arcos de Valdevez Arcos de Valdevez () is a concelho, municipality along the northern frontier of Portugal and Galicia (Spain), Galicia (Spain). The population in 2011 was 22,847,Viana do Castelo Viana do Castelo () is a municipality and seat of the district of Viana do Castelo in the Norte Region of Portugal. The population in 2011 was 88,725, in an area of 319.02 km². The urbanized area of the municipality, comprising the city, ...

in 1933. Father Himalaya was a pioneer in Portugal of

solar energy Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the Sun that is harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar power to generate electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating), and solar architecture. It is an essenti ...

and other uses of renewable energy. He was a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism m ...

and was interested in

naturopathy Naturopathy, or naturopathic medicine, is a form of alternative medicine. A wide array of pseudoscientific practices branded as "natural", "non-invasive", or promoting "self-healing" are employed by its practitioners, who are known as naturop ...

, particularly fitotherapy and

hydrotherapy Hydrotherapy, formerly called hydropathy and also called water cure, is a branch of alternative medicine (particularly naturopathy), occupational therapy, and physiotherapy, that involves the use of water for pain relief and treatment. The term ...

. He studied in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

with

Marcellin Berthelot Pierre Eugène Marcellin Berthelot (; 25 October 1827 – 18 March 1907) was a French chemist and Republican politician noted for the ThomsenBerthelot principle of thermochemistry. He synthesized many organic compounds from inorganic substance ...

and developed mathematical and astronomical theories to construct innovative ways of concentrating solar radiation in order to maximise useful energy production. Gomes is the creator of the

pyreliophorus The Pyreliophorus was a device similar to a burning glass, created by the Portuguese priest Manuel António Gomes, also known as ''padre Himalaya'', whose objective was to melt many different types of materials using solar energy. The device used s ...

, a series of reflecting mirrors to concentrate sunlight towards a common point in order to melt materials. He lived in the United States and Argentina between 1927 and 1932. In Argentina he wrote a book about cosmology, his inventions and his innovative views on several areas of science.

External links

Solar contest "Padre Himalaya" promoted by program Ciência Viva

Resumo da obra “A Conspiração Solar do Padre Himalaya – Esboço biográfico dum português pioneiro da Ecologia”

Association of Friends of Father Himalaya
1868 births 1933 deaths Portuguese physicists Portuguese Roman Catholic priests People from Arcos de Valdevez 19th-century Portuguese people {{Portugal-scientist-stub