José Alberto de Oliveira Anchieta (variations José d'Anchieta, José Anchieta, José de Anchieta - b. October 9, 1832 in

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 ...

Kingdom of Portugal The Kingdom of Portugal was a Portuguese monarchy, monarchy in the western Iberian Peninsula and the predecessor of the modern Portuguese Republic. Existing to various extents between 1139 and 1910, it was also known as the Kingdom of Portugal a ...

, d. September 14, 1897 in

Caconda Caconda is a town and a municipality in the province of Huíla, Angola. The municipality had a population of 167,820 in 2014. The ''Concelho'' (municipality) was officially founded on 1857. It has a population of 167,820 (2014 census). In the 1 ...

Portuguese Angola In southwestern Africa, Portuguese Angola was a historical Evolution of the Portuguese Empire, colony of the Portuguese Empire (1575–1951), the overseas province Portuguese West Africa of Estado Novo (Portugal), Estado Novo Portugal (1951–1 ...

) was a 19th-century Portuguese

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

and

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

who, between 1866 and 1897, travelled extensively in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, collecting

animal Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Biology, biological Kingdom (biology), kingdom Animalia (). With few exceptions, animals heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, ...

s and

plants Plants are the eukaryotes that form the kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with cyanobacteria to produce sugars f ...

. His specimens from Angola and Mozambique were sent out to Portugal, where they were later examined by several

zoologists This is a list of notable zoologists who have published names of new taxa under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. A * Abe – Tokiharu Abe (1911–1996) * Abeille de Perrin, Ab. – Elzéar Abeille de Perrin (1843–1910) * ...

and

botanists This is a list of botanists who have Wikipedia articles, in alphabetical order by surname. The List of botanists by author abbreviation is mostly a list of plant taxonomists because an author receives a standard abbreviation only when that aut ...

, chiefly among them J.V. Barboza du Bocage.

Life

Anchieta was born in 1832, in Lisbon, and started his studies in

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

at the

University of Coimbra The University of Coimbra (UC; , ) 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 Coimbra in 1537. The university ...

. Due to his fierce independence and eccentric character, however, he did not adapt well and moved to the Escola Politécnica de Lisboa (Polytechnic School of Lisbon). In 1857, one of his closest friends moved to

Portuguese Cape Verde Cape Verde was a colony of the Portuguese Empire from the initial settlement of the Cape Verde Islands in 1462 until the independence of Cape Verde in 1975. History 15th century The islands of Cape Verde were discovered in 1460-62 by Pri ...

, a Portuguese

colony A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their ''metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often orga ...

and a group of

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

s in 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 ...

in West

, and Anchieta went to join him. He spent his time studying the local

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

and

fauna Fauna (: faunae or faunas) is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding terms for plants and fungi are ''flora'' and '' funga'', respectively. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively ...

in the island of Santo Antão, and finally ended up helping the local inhabitants as an amateur physician (he had studied some

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

). A

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

epidemic An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of hosts in a given population within a short period of time. For example, in meningococcal infection ...

killed most of the inhabitants and he almost died too, but he was able to return to

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 ...

after two years. Following what he thought was his vocation, he studied medicine in Lisbon,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, but could not complete the course, and returned to Africa again, this time to Angola, one of the largest West African Portuguese colonies. He was successful as an explorer of the hinterland and as a naturalist, and after studying and collecting many new animal and plant species, he returned to Portugal. Most of his collections were lost when his canoe foundered in a river, but he donated what remained to the natural history museum of the Polytechnic School. In 1865, he travelled back on his own once again to Angola. This time, he was married and his wife accompanied him. He stayed on his own in the region of

Benguela Benguela (; Umbundu: Luombaka) is a city in western Angola, capital of Benguela Province. Benguela is one of Angola's most populous cities with a population of 555,124 in the city and 561,775 in the municipality, at the 2014 census. History Por ...

, establishing a laboratory inside the ruins of a church, and exploring and collecting animals, until, in 1867, the Portuguese government hired him, ostensibly as a naturalist. But what is most probable is that Anchieta was recruited as a secret agent and informer in the

region of Angola, one of the most extreme points of its territory. He stayed there, researching, exploring and sending many specimens and letters to his scientific correspondents in Lisbon. He also helped medically in the local

hospital A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...

and was much appreciated by the population as a dedicated and humane care-giving person. Little is known in the manner of documentation about this period of Anchieta's life, because most of the museum specimens disappeared, as well as his many letters to Bocage, in a catastrophic fire in the museum, in 1978. Anchieta died while returning from a zoological expedition to Caconda, in 1897, at 66 years of age, probably of the chronic consequences of

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

, which he and his wife caught, and which had severely undermined his health for many years. In all, according to Bocage, Anchieta's zoological output was truly prolific. He was responsible for identifying 25 new species of mammals, 46 birds, and 46 amphibians and reptiles. He didn't care much for writing scientific papers, though, but left this to his correspondents in Lisbon. Many of the species of

birds Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

amphibians Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniote, anamniotic, tetrapod, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class (biology), class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all Tetrapod, tetrapods, but excl ...

lizards Lizard is the common name used for all squamate reptiles other than snakes (and to a lesser extent amphisbaenians), encompassing over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The ...

snakes Snakes are elongated Limbless vertebrate, limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales much like other members of ...

fishes A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fins and a hard skull, but lacking limbs with digits. Fish can be grouped into the more basal jawless fish and the more common jawed ...

and

mammals A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three middle e ...

collected by him were unknown and thus were named for Anchieta with the species designation ''anchietae''. Some of them were: * Anchieta's sunbird (''Anthreptes anchietae''), a bird * Anchieta's barbet (''Stactolaema anchietae''), a bird * Anchieta's tchagra (''Tchagra anchietae''), a bird * Anchieta's ridged frog (''Ptychadena anchietae'') * Anchieta's dune lizard ('' Meroles anchietae'')Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Anchieta", p. 8). * Anchieta's frog (''Hylambates anchietae'') * Anchieta's tree frog (''Leptopelis anchietae'') * Anchieta's

chameleon Chameleons or chamaeleons (Family (biology), family Chamaeleonidae) are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of Old World lizards with 200 species described as of June 2015. The members of this Family (biology), family are best known for ...

(''

Chamaeleo ''Chamaeleo'' is a genus of chameleons in the Family (biology), family Chamaeleonidae. Most species of the genus ''Chamaeleo'' are found in sub-Saharan Africa, but a few species are also present in northern Africa, southern Europe, and southern ...

anchietae''), a lizard * Anchieta's cobra (''Naja anchietae''), a

venomous snake ''Venomous snakes'' are species of the suborder Serpentes that are capable of producing venom, which they use for killing prey, for defense, and to assist with digestion of their prey. The venom is typically delivered by injection using hollow ...

* Anchieta's dwarf python (''Python anchietae''), a non-venomous snake *

Anchieta's pipistrelle Anchieta's serotine (''Neoromicia anchietae''), formerly known as Anchieta's pipistrelle, is a species of vesper bat. It is found in Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Madagascar. The species inhabits sav ...

(''Pipistrellus anchietai''), a

bat Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...

* Anchieta's elephantfish (''Mormyrus anchietae'') * Anchieta's antelope (''Cephalophus anchietae'') * Anchieta's serpentiform skink ('' Eumecia anchietae''), a lizard * Anchieta's spade-snouted worm lizard ('' Monopeltis anchietae''), an amphisbaenian * Anchieta's agama ('' Agama anchietae''), a lizard

References

External links

* Guedes, ME
José de Anchieta, o Feiticeiro
(In Portuguese).

Species discovered by Anchieta and described by J.V. Barboza du Bocage. * Barboza du Bocage, JV: José d'Anchieta. Eulogy. ''Jornal das Sciencias Mathematicas, Physicas e Naturaes''. Academia Real de Sciencias de Lisboa. 5(18), December 189

(In Portuguese). {{DEFAULTSORT:Anchieta, Jose Alberto de Oliveira 1832 births 1897 deaths People from Lisbon Portuguese zoologists Portuguese explorers of Africa 19th-century explorers 19th-century Portuguese people University of Coimbra alumni

Life

See also

References

External links