José António Marques (29 January 1822 – 8 November 1884) was the founder of the Portuguese

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

Biography

José António Marques was the son of António Emídio Marques and Catarina da Assunção Marques. At 20, he finished his studies in medicine at the ''Escola Médico-Cirúrgica de Lisboa'' (Medicine and Surgery College of Lisbon). In 1842, by a

decree A decree is a law, legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state, judge, monarch, royal figure, or other relevant Authority, authorities, according to certain procedures. These procedures are usually defined by the constitution, Legislativ ...

of August of the same year, he was

nominated A candidate, or nominee, is a prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position. For example, one can be a candidate for membership in a group or election to an office, in which case a ...

assistant-surgeon and assigned to the 3rd Chasseur Battalion (''Batalhão de Caçadores n.º 3''). He rose through several levels of the military, being, in 1851, promoted to the position of Squad Surgeon. He distinguished himself, not only in his military life, where he played important roles on the ''Repartição de Saúde do Estado Maior General'' on the War Ministry, but equally as a

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

, having been one of the collaborators of a highly scientific publication, ''O Jornal dos Facultativos Militares. Escholiaste Médico'', and on his civilian medical career. He was the author of countless

scientific works Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

. His memoir, ''Aperçu historique de l'ophtalmie militaire portugaise'', presented, in 1857, in the

ophthalmology Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...

congress in

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, granted him the titles of

Doctor of Medicine A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin language, Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of ph ...

and Doctor of Surgery from the University of Brussels. He represented

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 ...

in several

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es of ophthalmology. In August 1864, by

nomination Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to a public office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. A collection of nominees narrowed from the full list of candidates is a short list. Political office In ...

of King Luis I, he represented Portugal at the International Conference in

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, to discuss the neutralization, in times of war, "of ambulances and hospitals, as well as healthcare personnel, rescuers and wounded people". Portugal, through Marques, was one of the twelve countries that signed the

First Geneva Convention The First Geneva Convention, officially the Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field (), held on 22 August 1864, is the first of four treaties of the Geneva Conventions. It defines "the basis on whic ...

on 22 August 1864, destined to give a better chance to military staff wounded in battle. Back in Portugal, Marques organized, on 11 February 1865, the "Comissão Portuguesa de Socorros a Feridos e Doentes Militares em Tempo de Guerra", the former designation of the Portuguese Red Cross. For his services to the country and the Army, several decorations were awarded to this famous medician, founder and 1st Secretary-General of the Portuguese Red Cross, including that of

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of the

Order of Aviz The Military Order of Aviz (), known previously to 1910 as the Royal Military Order of Saint Benedict of Aviz (), and before 1789 as the Knights of Saint Benedict of Aviz () or ''Friars of Santa Maria of Évora'', is one of the four former ancien ...

, Knight of the Order of Christ and of the

Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa The Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa (also known as The Royal Military Order of Our Lady of the Conception of Vila Viçosa; ) is a dynastic order of knighthood of the House of Braganza, the former Portuguese Royal Family. The cur ...

, and Knight of the Orders of

Leopold I of Belgium Leopold I (16 December 1790 – 10 December 1865) was the first king of the Belgians, reigning from 21 July 1831 until his death in 1865. The youngest son of Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Leopold took a commission in the Imperial Rus ...

and of

Charles III of Spain Charles III (; 20 January 1716 – 14 December 1788) was King of Spain in the years 1759 to 1788. He was also Duke of Parma and Piacenza, as Charles I (1731–1735); King of Naples, as Charles VII; and King of Sicily, as Charles III (or V) (1735� ...

Distinctions

National orders

* *

Knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

of the

Military Order of Christ The Military Order of Christ is a Honorific orders of Portugal, Portuguese honorific order. It is the former order of Knights Templar as it was reconstituted in Portugal. Before 1910, it was known as the Royal Military Order of Our Lord Jesus Chr ...

PRT Military Order of Aviz - Commander BAR

of the

Military Order of Aviz The Military Order of Aviz (), known previously to 1910 as the Royal Military Order of Saint Benedict of Aviz (), and before 1789 as the Knights of Saint Benedict of Aviz () or ''Friars of Santa Maria of Évora'', is one of the four former ancien ...

PRT Ordem de Nossa Senhora da Conceicao de Vila Vicosa Cavaleiro ribbon

of the

* Good Service Medal, Silver * Comportamento Exemplar Prata

Exemplary Behaviour Medal, Silver

Foreign honors

of the

Order of Leopold Order of Leopold may refer to: * Order of Leopold (Austria), founded in 1808 by emperor Francis I of Austria and discontinued in 1918 * Order of Leopold (Belgium), founded in 1832 by king Leopold I of Belgium * Order of Leopold II, founded in Congo ...

(Belgium) * Ufficiale OCI Kingdom BAR

Officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

of the

Order of the Crown of Italy The Order of the Crown of Italy ( or OCI) was founded as a national order in 1868 by King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II, to commemorate Italian unification, the unification of Italy in 1861. It was awarded in five degrees for ...

(Italy)

Notes

External links

José António Marques (1822-1884)
Biography at the Portuguese

website *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marques, Antonio 1822 births 1884 deaths Red Cross personnel 19th-century Portuguese people People from Lisbon