Alexandre Rodrigues Ferreira
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Alexandre Rodrigues Ferreira (April 27, 1756 – April 23, 1815) was a Portuguese naturalist born in
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. He undertook an extensive journey which crossed the interior of the
Amazon Basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries of Bolivi ...
to
Mato Grosso Mato Grosso ( – lit. "Thick Bush") is one of the states of Brazil, the third largest by area, located in the Central-West region. The state has 1.66% of the Brazilian population and is responsible for 1.9% of the Brazilian GDP. Neighboring ...
, between 1783 and 1792. During this journey, he described the
agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
,
flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...
,
fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...
, and native inhabitants.


Life and work

Born in Bahia (present day Salvador), the son of the merchant Manuel Rodrigues Ferreira, Ferreira began his studies at the Convent of Mercês, in Bahia, which gave him his first orders in 1768. He then studied law and then natural philosophy and mathematics at the
University of Coimbra The University of Coimbra (UC; pt, Universidade de Coimbra, ) is a Public university, public research university in Coimbra, Portugal. First established in Lisbon in 1290, it went through a number of relocations until moving permanently to Coi ...
, where he received his baccalaureate at age 22. He continued his studies at the institution, where he studied natural history, and obtained his doctorate in 1779. He then worked at the Royal Museum of Ajuda. On March 22, 1780, he was admitted as a corresponding member of the Portuguese Royal Academy of Sciences.


Expedition to Brazil

At this time the colonial economy of Brazil was in a state of decadence, having exhausted the placer gold of Mato Grosso,
Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian state located in the Center-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul and Mato Grosso. The state capital is Goiânia. ...
, and, especially,
Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...
. For this reason, the queen
Maria I of Portugal , succession = Queen of Portugal , image = Maria I, Queen of Portugal - Giuseppe Troni, atribuído (Turim, 1739-Lisboa, 1810) - Google Cultural Institute.jpg , caption = Portrait attributed to Giuseppe Troni, , reign ...
, desiring to know more about the central and north of the Brazilian colony, which at that point remained practically unexplored, in order to implement developmental measures, ordered Alexandre Rodrigues Ferreira, as a naturalist, to undertake a "philosophical voyage through the captaincies of Grão-Pará, Rio Negro, Mato Grosso e Cuiabá." The idea was to provide an impetus for economic exploration and enable conquest of disputed territory. In 1783 the naturalist left his post at the Museum of Ajuda, and, in September, left for Brazil to describe, collect, prepare and remit to the Royal Museum of Lisbon samples of tools used by the local population, as well as local minerals, plants, and animals. He was also to write political and philosophical commentaries about what he saw in the places he passed through. This pragmatism was what separated this voyage from other, more scientific, voyages led by other naturalists who explored America. With uncertain resources, he counted on two draftsmen or sketchers (''riscadores''), José Codina, about whom little is known, and José Joaquim Freire, who had an important position in the drawing house of the Museum of Ajuda and frequented the design halls of the Foundry of the Royal Army Arsenal. He was also served by a botanical gardener, Agostinho do Cabo. The voyage was undertaken under auspices of the Academy of Sciences in Lisbon, the Ministry of Business and Ultramarine Dominions, and was planned by the Italian naturalist
Domenico Vandelli Domenico Agostino Vandelli (Padua, 8 July 1735 – Lisbon, 27 June 1816) was an Italian naturalist, who did most of his scientific work in Portugal. He studied at the University of Padua, from which he received a doctorate in Natural Philos ...
. It was originally planned to include four naturalists, but due to financial cuts, Ferreira was the only one, and on his shoulders lay the responsibilities of collecting species, classifying and preparing specimens for the return journey to Lisbon, and preparing studies about the agriculture and maps of the area. In October 1783, he arrived in
Belém do Pará Belém (; Portuguese for Bethlehem; initially called Nossa Senhora de Belém do Grão-Pará, in English Our Lady of Bethlehem of Great Pará) often called Belém of Pará, is a Brazilian city, capital and largest city of the state of Pará in t ...
on the ''Águia e Coração de Jesus'' ("Eagle and Heart of Jesus"). The following nine years were dedicated to crossing the central-north of Brazil, from the island of
Marajó Marajó () is a large coastal island in the state of Pará, Brazil. It is the main and largest of the islands in the Marajó Archipelago. Marajó Island is separated from the mainland by Marajó Bay, Pará River, smaller rivers (especially ...
,
Cametá Cametá is a Brazilian municipality in the state of Pará Pará is a state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas ...
, Baião,
Pederneiras Pederneiras is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population is 47,111 (2020 est.) in an area of 729 km². The elevation is 475 m above sea level. History Starting from 1842, small villages were established in the area of ...
and Alcobaça. He went up the
Amazon River The Amazon River (, ; es, Río Amazonas, pt, Rio Amazonas) in South America is the largest river by discharge volume of water in the world, and the disputed longest river system in the world in comparison to the Nile. The headwaters of t ...
and the Rio Negro to the border with Spanish lands, and navigated up the
Branco River The Branco River ( pt, Rio Branco; Engl: ''White River'') is the principal affluent of the Rio Negro from the north. Basin The river drains the Guayanan Highlands moist forests ecoregion. It is enriched by many streams from the Tepui highlands w ...
to the mountain of Cananauaru. He went up the
Madeira River The Madeira River ( pt, Rio Madeira, link=no ) is a major waterway in South America. It is estimated to be in length, while the Madeira-Mamoré is estimated near or in length depending on the measuring party and their methods. The Madeira is ...
and the
Guaporé River Guaporé River ( pt, Rio Guaporé, es, Río Iténez) is a river in western Brazil and northeastern Bolivia. It is long; of the river forms the border between Brazil and Bolivia. The Guaporé River is part of the Madeira River basin, which eve ...
to
Vila Bela da Santíssima Trindade Vila Bela da Santíssima Trindade is a Brazilian municipality in Mato Grosso with 16,271 (2020) inhabitants. It is located at upper Guaporé River close to the border with Bolivia. It served as the capital of the Captaincy of Mato Grosso from 175 ...
, then capital of Mato Grosso. He continued through the town of
Cuiabá Cuiabá () is the capital city of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. It is located near the geographical centre of South America. Also, it forms the metropolitan area of Mato Grosso, along with the neighbouring town of Várzea Grande. The city' ...
, crossing from the Amazon watershed into the marshes of Mato Grosso, in the Prata River watershed. He followed the
Cuiabá Cuiabá () is the capital city of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. It is located near the geographical centre of South America. Also, it forms the metropolitan area of Mato Grosso, along with the neighbouring town of Várzea Grande. The city' ...
, São Lourenço and Paraguai Rivers. He returned to Belém do Pará in January 1792. He inventoried the flora and fauna, the indigenous communities and their customs, evaluated the economic opportunities and possible places for centers of population. His was the most important voyage of discovery in Brazil during the colonial period. His "Diary of a Philosophical Voyage" (''Diário da Viagem Filosófica'') was published in the ''Revista do Instituto Histórico e Geográfico Brasileiro'' in 1887. The Division of Manuscripts of the National Library Foundation preserves in the Alexandre Rodrigues Ferreira Collection hundreds of documents from Philosophical Voyage, along with other papers relating to the Amazon from the 18th century.


Remittance to Portugal

During all of the years of exploration of the hinterland, he ordered the material collected to be sent to the royal court. Upon discovering that all of the expenses had been covered by the captain, spending his daughter's dowry, he decided that it wouldn't do to embarrass her marriage, and married his daughter, Germana Pereira de Queiroz, himself on September 16, 1792. He returned to Lisbon in January 1793, and dedicated the remainder of his life to metropolitan administration. He was named Official of the Secretary of State of Sea Commerce and Ultramarine Dominions. In 1794 he was awarded the Order of Christ and took a post as temporary director of the Royal Cabinet of Natural History and the
Botanical Garden of the University of Coimbra The Botanical Garden of the University of Coimbra ( or simply ''Jardim Botânico'') is a botanical garden in Coimbra, Portugal. History It was founded in 1772 by Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo (the Marquis of Pombal). The location for ...
. In the following year, he was nominated, in sequence, the Vice Director of the institution, Administrator of the Royal Farms, and Deputy of the Royal Junta of Commerce. He died in Lisbon. The material provided by the Philosophical Voyage remained for more than a century unknown and unstudied by Portuguese scholars, not even by Ferreira himself. He never resumed work on the species and samples collected in Brazil, nor refined his records and studies of the journey, and much of the material was taken to Paris as war booty. There remains today, however, a rich archive of diaries, geographic, demographic and agricultural maps, correspondence, more than a thousand boards and records, today kept mainly in the National Library Foundation in
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
and the Museum Bocage in Lisbon.


Legacy

Ferreira is commemorated in the scientific names of a genus of Brazilian lizard, ''
Alexandresaurus ''Alexandresaurus'' is a genus of lizard in the family Gymnophthalmidae. The genus is monotypic, i.e., it contains only one species, ''Alexandresaurus camacan''. The species is endemic to Brazil. www.reptile-database.org. Etymology The generic ...
'', a species of Brazilian lizard, '' Loxopholis ferreirai'', and in the specific name of the Brazilian snapper (''Lutjanus alexandrei''). The
Black Arowana The black arowana (''Osteoglossum ferreirai'') is a South American freshwater bony fish of the family Osteoglossidae. Black arowanas are sometimes kept in aquariums, but they are predatory and require a very large tank. It is generally common, b ...
''Osteoglossum ferreirai'' is named after him.


Notes


References

* ''Catholic Encyclopedia''
"Alexandre Rodrigues Ferreira"
on-line * M. L. Rodrigues Areia, M. A. Miranda, and T. Hartmann. ''Memória da Amazónia. Alexandre Rodrigues Ferreira e a Viagem Philosophica pelas Capitanias do Grão-Pará, Rio Negro, Mato Grosso e Cuyabá. 1783-1792''. Coimbra: Museu e Laboratório Antropológico da Universidade, 1991. * Henry Walter Bates. ''O naturalista no rio Amazonas (2 v.).'' São Paulo: Editora Nacional, 1944. * "Brasiliana da Biblioteca Nacional", Rio de Janeiro, 2001. * J. C. M. Carvalho (ed.). ''Viagem filosófica pelas capitanias do Grão-Pará, Rio Negro, Mato Grosso e Cuiabá (1783-1793)''. Belém:
Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi The Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi (MPEG) is a Brazilian research institution and museum located in the city of Belém, state of Pará, Brazil. It was founded in 1866 by Domingos Soares Ferreira Penna as the Pará Museum of Natural History and Ethn ...
, 1983. * V. Correia Filho. ''Alexandre Rodrigues Ferreira. Vida e obra do grande naturalista brasileiro''. São Paulo: Companhia Editora Nacional, 1939. * O. R. Cunha. ''O naturalista Alexandre Rodrigues Ferreira. Uma análise comparativa de sua viagem filosófica (1783-1793)''. Belém:,
Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi The Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi (MPEG) is a Brazilian research institution and museum located in the city of Belém, state of Pará, Brazil. It was founded in 1866 by Domingos Soares Ferreira Penna as the Pará Museum of Natural History and Ethn ...
, 1991. * A. Domingues. ''Formas de intervenção no espaço amazónico em finais do século XVIII: política e aventura''. Dissertação de mestrado. Lisboa: FCSH da UNL, 1988. * A. Domingues. "Viagens científicas de exploração à Amazónia de finais do séc. XVIII". ''Ler História''. 19(1990)105-125. * A. Domingues. ''Viagens de exploração geográfica na Amazónia em finais do século XVIII: Política, Ciência e Aventura''. Lisboa: Secretaria Regional do Turismo, Cultura e Emigração (Madeira)/Centro de Estudos de História do Atlântico, 1991. * A. Domingues. "Os índios da Amazónia para um Naturalista do séc. XVIII". ''Ler História''. 23(1992)3-10. * A. Domingues & P. Alves-Melo (2021).
Iluminismo no mundo luso-brasileiro: um olhar sobre a Viagem Filosófica à Amazónia, 1783-1792 [Enlightenment in the Portuguese-Brazilian World: the Philosophical Journey to the Amazonia, 1783-1792
/nowiki>]". ''Ler História'' (78): 157–178. Doi (identifier), doi:10.4000/lerhistoria.7879. ISSN (identifier), ISSN 0870–6182. *E. C. Falcão. ''Viagem filosófica às Capitanias do Grão-Pará, Rio Negro, Mato Grosso e Cuiabá''. São Paulo: Gráfica Brunner, 1970. * Alexandre Rodrigues Ferreira. ''Viagem Filosófica ao Rio Negro''. Belém: Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, 1983. *Day Otis Kellogg, William Robertson Smith. ''The Encyclopædia Britannica: latest edition. A dictionary of arts, sciences and general literature, Volume 26.'' 1902.


External links

*
Works of Alexandre Rodrigues Ferreira in the Biblioteca Nacional do Brasil
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferreira, Alexandre Rodrigues 1756 births 1815 deaths People from Salvador, Bahia Brazilian scientists Brazilian explorers Portuguese scientists Portuguese explorers of South America Explorers of Amazonia 18th-century explorers University of Coimbra alumni