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Francisco Luís Gomes (; ; 31 May 1829 – 30 September 1869) was a Portuguese surgeon, writer, historian, economist,
political scientist Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
and MP in the
Portuguese parliament The Assembly of the Republic (, ), commonly referred to as simply Parliament (), is the unicameral parliament of Portugal. According to the Constitution of Portugal, the parliament "is the representative assembly of all Portuguese citizens". Th ...
. A classical liberal by political orientation, Gomes represented
Margão Margao (, ) is the commercial capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Goa. It stands on the banks of the river Sal River (India), Sal. It is the district headquarters of South Goa district, South Goa, and administr ...
in the ''
Cortes Gerais The Cortes Gerais ( pre-1911 spelling: Cortes Geraes,https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/item/bdr:574055/PDF/ meaning ''General Courts'' in Portuguese) were the parliament of the Kingdom of Portugal during the Constitutional Monarchy ...
'' from 1861 to 1869. His outstanding contributions towards the fields of classical liberal philosophy and economics led him to be widely hailed as "The Prince of Intellectuals" in Europe.


Early life

Francisco Luís Gomes was born on 31 May 1829 in the Colmoroddo ''vaddo'' (
deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of ...
of a
parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...
) of Navelim village in Salcette ''
concelho Concelho () is the Portuguese-language term for municipality, referring to the territorial subdivision in local government. In comparison, the word ''município'' () refers to the organs of State. This differentiation is still in use in Portugal ...
'', the son of a Goan Catholic '' Chardo'' couple, Francisco Salvador Gomes and Deodata Furtado. His father was a physician and civic leader. Gomes spent his early years in Navelim and during this period, displayed a flair for languages. He was a
polyglot Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...
; highly proficient in the use of
Konkani __NOTOC__ Konkani may refer to: Language * Konkani language is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Konkan region of India. * Konkani alphabets, different scripts used to write the language **Konkani in the Roman script, one of the scripts used to ...
, Portuguese and French, and additionally possessed a good understanding of English, Italian, Spanish,
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
and Marathi. At the age of 21, he completed his medical course at the Escola Médico-Cirúrgica de Goa in Nova Goa. He was soon appointed professor of the institution in view of his academic merits, and also granted a commission in the
Portuguese Army The Portuguese Army () is the land component of the Portuguese Armed Forces, Armed Forces of Portugal and is also its largest branch. It is charged with the defence of Portugal, in co-operation with other branches of the Armed Forces. With its ...
. Gomes eventually rose to become the institution's Chief Surgeon in 1860.


Member of Parliament (1861–1869)

Gomes saw it as his life's mission to advance the cause of freedom, truth and justice, and thus followed in his father's footsteps by taking part in civic affairs. In 1860, he stood for election in the Portuguese parliament ''Cortes Gerais'' from the constituency of
Margão Margao (, ) is the commercial capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Goa. It stands on the banks of the river Sal River (India), Sal. It is the district headquarters of South Goa district, South Goa, and administr ...
. He was elected to the parliament in 1861 and took a seat with '' Partido Regenador'' (Renewing Party), a liberal party. His first speech in parliament made him renowned as a great orator and parliamentarian. Gomes represented
Portuguese India The State of India, also known as the Portuguese State of India or Portuguese India, was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded seven years after the discovery of the sea route to the Indian subcontinent by Vasco da Gama, a subject of the ...
until his death in 1869. He was thrice offered a seat in the Cabinet as a Minister, but declined as he found it to be incompatible with his independent views. Francisco Luís Gomes fought against slavery and defended the cause of the '' Padroado''. He strove for the creation of a society based on the principles of
liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...
, equality and
fraternity A fraternity (; whence, "wikt:brotherhood, brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club (organization), club or fraternal order traditionally of men but also women associated together for various religious or secular ...
, and campaigned against socio-economic injustices committed on the colonised peoples across the
Portuguese Empire The Portuguese Empire was a colonial empire that existed between 1415 and 1999. In conjunction with the Spanish Empire, it ushered in the European Age of Discovery. It achieved a global scale, controlling vast portions of the Americas, Africa ...
. He campaigned to ameliorate the conditions of his constituents and his efforts towards this end succeeded in placing colonial public servants on equal standing as public servants in
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
. Gomes laid down the principles of a Goan budget and expunged it of several illegal items of expenditure.


Works

Gomes became internationally renowned as an eminent economist and political scientist due to his principal works which were published while he was incumbent in the ''Cortes Gerais''. His view was that economics was inseparable from politics, and as such, he devoted a large part of his life to its study. In 1861, Gomes wrote his first work; a 34-page treatise on the subject in French entitled ''"De la question du cotton en Angleterre et dans les possessions portugaises d' Afrique Occidentale"'' (The issue of cotton in England and the Portuguese possessions of West Africa). This work earned him recognition in Europe as an eminent economist. A second work on the agricultural and rural economy of Goa ''A liberdade da terra e a economia rural da India portugueza'' (The freedom of the land and the rural economy of Portuguese India) was published in Portuguese the following year. This work is generally considered to be his ''
magnum opus A masterpiece, , or ; ; ) is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, skill, profundity, or workmanship. Historically, ...
''. In it, Gomes discussed the impact of Portuguese colonial policy on Goan agriculture, as well as the various handicaps of the native agriculturist. He advocated colonial autonomy and a uniform system of colonial administration throughout the Portuguese Empire and suggests a scheme of economic and financial reforms, such as the establishment of Credit societies, which would save the country from
economic stagnation Economic stagnation is a prolonged period of slow economic growth (traditionally measured in terms of the GDP growth), usually accompanied by high unemployment. Under some definitions, ''slow'' means significantly slower than potential growth as ...
. He argued that the '' comunidades'' were no longer suited to the exigencies of the time and instead called for the liberation of the lands under their control, and its replacement by individual ownership of the tenant. He also advocated the sale of all public lands, as well as those that belonged to religious institutions. A third work published in French in 1867, ''Essai sur la théorie de l'économie politique et de ses rapports avec la morale et le droit'' (Essay on the theory of political economy and its relationship with morality and the law) was widely praised by European economists. It is generally recognised as one of the most important in the history of Portuguese economic thought recognised by eminent European societies such as ''Societe d'Economie Politique'' of Paris, Society of Medical Sciences of
Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
and the Economic Society of Cadiz. In 1866, Gomes published his famous historical novel ''Os Brâmanes'' (The Brahmins), the first novel by a Goan, which focused on the practise of caste-based discrimination in
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
, particularly of untouchability among the Hindus. The novel has a purely Indian background and was inspired by the French playwright
Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...
. Its theme is centred on the love of liberty, justice and concern for the downtrodden, and focuses on the life of the
Anglo-Indian Anglo-Indian people are a distinct minority group, minority community of mixed-race British and Indian ancestry. During the colonial period, their ancestry was defined as British paternal and Indian maternal heritage; post-independence, "Angl ...
community in the
Faizabad district Ayodhya district (formerly Faizabad district) is one of the 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh, districts in the northern Indian states and territories of India, state of Uttar Pradesh. The city of Ayodhya is its administrative headquarters. The d ...
and its relationship with the native inhabitants. It vividly portrays the traditional festivities in Cawnpore, and discusses the causes and effects of the
Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...
in great detail. In it, Gomes also alluded to the anti-colonial uprisings by the Ranes in Goa in the statement: "Impartial men who are moved by justice and not by racialism want India to be ruled by Indians". He also criticised the European nations for their perceived lack of adherence to Christian values. Gomes' other notable works included a biography written in Portuguese of the brigadiers Henrique Carlos Henriques and Joaquim Xavier Henriques, and in French of Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Marquess of Pombal (1869). He cherished his mother-tongue, Konkani, and made significant contributions towards a revised edition of '' Arte da lingoa Canarim'' (Art of the Canarim language), the Konkani grammar by the 16th-century English
Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
, Fr. Thomas Stephens. He also wrote an unpublished Konkani grammar dedicated to the Portuguese civil servant and Konkani revivalist Joaquim Heliodoró da Cunha Rivara.


Political views

Gomes was a Romanticist who cherished the concept of
liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...
. He was a devout
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
who judged the world according to the ethical standards of his faith, tracing his philosophy of equality to
Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...
. Gomes took great pride in his Indian ancestry and advocated the right of '' Swaraj'' or self-governance for Indians. On the
Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...
, he famously stated in ''Os Brâmanes'': Gomes was a staunch Indian nationalist, and contrarily to his Hindu counterparts within Goa and the Indian mainland, based his nationalism within the framework of his Christian religious beliefs and his faith in the superiority of
Western culture Western culture, also known as Western civilization, European civilization, Occidental culture, Western society, or simply the West, refers to the Cultural heritage, internally diverse culture of the Western world. The term "Western" encompas ...
. He believed the main instruments of civilisation to be two, namely Christianity and education. He was appalled by the perceived "social evils" he found to be prevalent in Hindu society, and saw European civilisation as a panacea for them. While Gomes bemoaned the loss of India's ancient cultural heritage, he believed that the only chance left for the Indian people to have a civilisation of their own laid on colonial rule. At the same time, however, he decried attempts by the Western colonial powers to use their dominant status for the purpose of exploiting, rather than guiding and educating their subjects. Gomes further believed that the European colonial powers should eventually leave and entrust the governance of India to its people, once the period of "tutelage" was over. Gomes envisioned the building of an invincible nation with both Christian and liberal values of an "enlightened" Europe. He believed that the cause of India's subjugation by European colonial powers laid on India being ridden with rivalries of different dynasties, caste hatred and religious antagonisms. He further believed that with only one religion, only one dynasty, only one caste, India would have been invincible. Gomes wrote regarding Portuguese rule in India that "Portugal converted a portion of India to the Catholic religion with the arms of her soldiers, with the blood of her martyrs, with the miracles of her saints, and with the fires of her Inquisition. Those who were vanquished in this struggle became Christians and Portuguese."


Honours

Gomes was the recipient of numerous honours, in view of his significant contributions in the fields of literature, history, economy and political science. Due to his significant contributions towards the study of
political economy Political or comparative economy is a branch of political science and economics studying economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and national economies) and their governance by political systems (e.g. law, institutions, and government). Wi ...
, the Society of Economists of Paris appointed him as an Associate Member, a rare honour which he shared with four other eminent personages, namely,
William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...
, Mungueti,
John Stuart Mill John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 – 7 May 1873) was an English philosopher, political economist, politician and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of liberalism and social liberalism, he contributed widely to s ...
and
Richard Cobden Richard Cobden (3 June 1804 – 2 April 1865) was an English Radicals (UK), Radical and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician, manufacturing, manufacturer, and a campaigner for free trade and peace. He was associated with the Anti–Corn Law L ...
. Upon his visit to France on the occasion of the Universal Exhibition held in Paris in 1867, the elite among the French economists and philosophers paid a public tribute to Gomes for his contributions to the study of political economy. The French monarch
Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...
received him in a special audience and felicitated him for his achievements. Among other honours, Gomes was appointed Member of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bombay, Member of the Society of Medical Sciences of
Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
, Member of the Society of Political Economy of Cadiz, Member of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Lisbon, and was awarded the Doctorate of Social and Political Sciences of the
Catholic University of Leuven University of Leuven or University of Louvain (; ) may refer to: * Old University of Leuven (1425–1797) * State University of Leuven (1817–1835) * Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968) * Katholieke Universiteit Leuven or KU Leuven (1968 ...
in Belgium. His loyalty to the Portuguese Empire coupled with his love and enthusiasm for the Portuguese language and culture resulted in him being honoured with the knighthood of the '' Ordem Militar de Nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo'' by the Portuguese government.


Death

In 1869, Gomes was afflicted with a debilitating illness and his body began to waste. He hoped to spend his remaining days in Goa, and left Europe for
British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...
by the ''S.S. Messalia'' on 25 September. 36 hours after entering the
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...
, he died on board the ship on 30 September, aged 40. Portuguese writer Júlio Dantas wrote about Gomes' legacy:


Legacy


Bibliography

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Citations


References

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Further reading

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gomes, Francisco Luis 1829 births 1869 deaths Medical doctors from Goa People from Portuguese India Portuguese surgeons 19th-century Portuguese male writers 19th-century Portuguese historians 19th-century Portuguese economists Portuguese Roman Catholics Portuguese liberal politicians 19th-century Portuguese physicians 19th-century Portuguese writers Classical liberal economists