João Baptista De Lacerda
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

João Batista de Lacerda (12 July 1846 – 6 August 1915), was a
physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...
and one of the pioneering Brazilian biomedical
scientist A scientist is a person who Scientific method, researches to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engag ...
s in the fields of experimental
physiology Physiology (; ) is the science, scientific study of function (biology), functions and mechanism (biology), mechanisms in a life, living system. As a branches of science, subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ syst ...
and
pharmacology Pharmacology is the science of drugs and medications, including a substance's origin, composition, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, therapeutic use, and toxicology. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur betwee ...
.


Biography

Born in
Campos dos Goytacazes Campos dos Goytacazes () is a city located in the northern region of Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil, with a population of 483,540 inhabitants. It is the largest city in Rio de Janeiro (state) outside of the Greater Rio de Janeiro metropolitan ar ...
in 1846, João Baptista de Lacerda graduated in
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, ...
from the Medical School of Rio de Janeiro and returned to Campos to open a private practice. Soon after, he was invited by the
Minister of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...
to be the associate director of the section of
anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...
,
zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...
and
paleontology Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure ge ...
of the recently created National Museum of Natural History of Rio de Janeiro, by Emperor D. Pedro II. Later, he assumed also the associate directorship of the Laboratory of Experimental Physiology, under the
French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...
physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out chemical and ...
Louis Couty, who had been invited to the post. In this position, Lacerda carried out successfully a number of experimental investigations on
curare Curare ( or ; or ) is a common name for various alkaloid arrow poisons originating from plant extracts. Used as a paralyzing agent by indigenous peoples in Central and South America for hunting and for therapeutic purposes, curare only ...
and the
poison A poison is any chemical substance that is harmful or lethal to living organisms. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figurati ...
s of Brazilian
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 ...
,
frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough ski ...
s and
lizard Lizard is the common name used for all Squamata, 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 Island#Oceanic isla ...
s. One of his important discoveries was the helpful effect of
potassium permanganate Potassium permanganate is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula KMnO4. It is a purplish-black crystalline salt, which dissolves in water as K+ and ions to give an intensely pink to purple solution. Potassium permanganate is widely us ...
to treat snake bites. In the field of archeo-anthropology, he was one of the first to study human
fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...
remains in Brazil and was awarded the bronze medal of the Anthropological Exhibit of
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 ...
in 1878. An indefatigable worker, Lacerda also began research on
microbiology Microbiology () is the branches of science, scientific study of microorganisms, those being of unicellular organism, unicellular (single-celled), multicellular organism, multicellular (consisting of complex cells), or non-cellular life, acellula ...
,
beriberi Thiamine deficiency is a medical condition of low levels of thiamine (vitamin B1). A severe and chronic form is known as beriberi. The name beriberi was possibly borrowed in the 18th century from the Sinhalese phrase (bæri bæri, “I canno ...
and yellow fever. He also studied several
infectious diseases infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dise ...
of agricultural importance, such as in horses and cattle. Most of the research carried out in his lab was published in the National Museum's own periodical, the ''Arquivos do Museu Nacional'', as well as in other national and foreign journals. After Couty died unexpectedly, Lacerda became the Laboratory director and greatly inspiring force; later, he also served as the general director of the National Museum and as a member and president of the Brazilian Imperial Academy of Medicine.


Racial whitening thesis

The medical anthropologist João Baptista de Lacerda was one of the main exponents of the "thesis of racial whitening" among Brazilians, having participated, in 1911, in the Universal Congress of Races, in
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 ...
. This congress brought together people from all over the world to debate the issue of
racialism Scientific racism, sometimes termed biological racism, is the pseudoscientific belief that the human species is divided into biologically distinct taxa called " races", and that empirical evidence exists to support or justify racial discri ...
and the relationship between races and the progress of civilizations (themes of current interest at the time). Baptista took to the event the article ''Sur les métis au Brésil'' (About the mestizos of Brazil, in Portuguese), in which he defended the miscegenation factor as something positive, in the Brazilian case, due to the overlapping of the white race traits on the others, black and indigenous. In an excerpt from the referred article, Baptista states: In this passage, one can clearly see the content of the yearning for whitening. The intellectual currents that influenced the thinking of Baptista and other advocates of eugenics were varied and ranged from the determinism of
Henry Thomas Buckle Henry Thomas Buckle (24 November 1821 – 29 May 1862) was an English historian, the author of an unfinished ''History of Civilization'' and a strong amateur chess player. He is sometimes called "the Father of Scientific History". Early life a ...
and the
Social Darwinism Charles Darwin, after whom social Darwinism is named Social Darwinism is a body of pseudoscientific theories and societal practices that purport to apply biological concepts of natural selection and survival of the fittest to sociology, economi ...
of Spencer to the theories of
Gobineau Joseph Arthur de Gobineau (; 14 July 1816 – 13 October 1882) was a French writer and diplomat who is best known for helping introduce scientific race theory and "racial demography", and for developing the theory of the Aryan master race and N ...
. All these currents, to a large extent, served as an argument to justify the phase of
neocolonialism Neocolonialism is the control by a state (usually, a former colonial power) over another nominally independent state (usually, a former colony) through indirect means. The term ''neocolonialism'' was first used after World War II to refer to ...
, which focused on the African and Asian continents. A curious fact of Baptista's presentation at the Universal Congress of Races was the exhibition of a copy of the painting ''
Ham's Redemption ''Ham's Redemption'', in Portuguese: ''A Redenção de Cam''; is an oil painting made by Spanish painter Modesto Brocos in 1895. Brocos completed the work while teaching at the National School of Fine Arts of Rio de Janeiro. The painting is wi ...
'', by the Spanish painter
Modesto Brocos Modesto Brocos y Gómez (9 February 1852 – 28 November 1936) was a Spanish-Brazilian painter and engraver. His work covers a wide variety of styles and subjects, and he was the author of several books on painting. He is also notable for h ...
. This painting was completed in 1895 and presents the image of a family: on the left, a black lady looking up to the sky in gratitude, and a mixed-race woman holding a white child; on the right, a white man watching his wife and son. The image of the painting categorically conveys the thesis that Baptista defended: whitening through generations. Brocos proposes the dilution of the black color in the succession of descendants and inserts, in this succession, the "redemption", the "absolution" of a "cursed race", that is, the descendants of
Ham Ham is pork from a leg cut that has been preserved by wet or dry curing, with or without smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in '' Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 39. As a processed meat, the term '' ...
, son of
Noah Noah (; , also Noach) appears as the last of the Antediluvian Patriarchs (Bible), patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5–9), the Quran and Baháʼí literature, ...
, who, in the
book of Genesis The Book of Genesis (from Greek language, Greek ; ; ) is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its incipit, first word, (In the beginning (phrase), 'In the beginning'). Genesis purpor ...
, is cursed by his father. Ham's story, despite its biblical symbolism, was interpreted by default by the racialism of the 19th century, in which Brocos was involved. The "darkening" of Ham's descendants would have led to the black African race, which could be redeemed by mixing with the white European race.


Quote


References


External links


The Laboratory of Experimental Physiology, Imperial and National Museum of Rio de Janeiro
''Dicionário Histórico-Biográfico das Ciências da Saúde no Brasil (1832-1930)''. Casa de Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro (In Portuguese). Lacerda, Joao Batista de Lacerda. Joao Batista de Lacerda, Joao Batista de Lacerda, Joao Batista de 19th-century Brazilian scientists 19th-century Brazilian physicians 20th-century Brazilian scientists National Museum of Brazil {{Brazil-scientist-stub