Faria e Castro (José Carlos de)
Biography of José Carlos de Faria e Castro, a Funchal-born writer who settled in the Russian Empire after marrying into the Vaksel family, and wrote works on Portuguese maritime history and Camões.
He was born in the parish (freguesia) of Santa Maria Maior (‘St Mary Major’) on 9 December 1835, the son of José Carlos de Faria e Castro and Dona Amélia de Faria e Castro. He was attending the Episcopal Seminary of Funchal (Seminário Episcopal do Funchal), intended for the Church, when he met the writer Platão de Vaksel, who invited him to visit Russia in his company. Vaksel had come to Madeira to accompany a sister, who was suffering from a lung disease and died here.
Having accepted the invitation, Faria e Castro went to the Muscovite empire, where some time later he married another sister of his friend Vaksel. From then on he lived at the castle of Raudamy, on the banks of the Neman, which belonged to his wife’s family.
Faria e Castro was in Madeira in 1898 and 1903, and in both years he also visited several European cities. He was a corresponding member of the Lisbon Geographical Society (Sociedade de Geografia de Lisboa), a knight of the Order of Christ (Ordem de Cristo) and a moço fidalgo (junior nobleman of the Royal Household) of the Royal Household. Besides many newspaper articles, he wrote the following works:
- O Estado e o seu âmbito, Lisbon, 1878
- L'Epopée maritime des Portugais, Vasco da Gama et le Camoens, Brussels, 1898
- L'Ouverture de la grande navigation a travers l'Océan au quinzième siècle, Paris, 1902
- and Les Jesuites et Camoens sous le roi D. Sebastiâo.
He died at the castle of Raudamy in April 1910.
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 03Place
Places mentioned · 05
Abroad
- Funchal
Seat of the episcopal seminary he attended.
The capital of the archipelago and seat of the principal captaincy, where settlement began; it was made a vila c.1451–52. Its bay, the widest in the archipelago, lies between Ponta do Garajau and Ponta da Cruz and offers sheltered anchorage, though its harbour had never been studied oceanographically. The Elucidário discusses it as a health resort with climate data and records the January 1906 disturbances, the Danish prince's visit in May 1846 and recent volcanic cones in the area.
- Raudamy
Lithuania. Castle on the Niemen owned by his wife's family, where he lived and died.
Castle on the Niemen owned by his wife's family, where he lived and died.
- Russia
Country where he settled.
Russia appears in the Elucidário as a market for Madeira wine, the subject of a 1906 municipal representation, and a source of donations during the 1846–1847 famine. Agostinho de Ornelas de Vasconcelos was minister plenipotentiary there from 1894.
- Santa Maria Maior
Funchal. Parish of his birth.
A partly urban parish in the eastern part of Funchal, the oldest of the archipelago, also known as Nossa Senhora do Calhau or Socorro. Its church is the former St James church, and it is noted for embroiderers producing the finest work. It became a julgado of the Funchal comarca in 1927.
People
People mentioned · 03- José Carlos de Faria e Castro1835–1910
Madeiran-born writer who lived at Raudamy castle in the Russian Empire and wrote on Portuguese navigation and Camões.
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Mother of José Carlos de Faria e Castro.
- Platão de Vakselb. 1844
Russian writer who came to Madeira with a consumptive sister and invited Faria e Castro to Russia, later becoming his brother-in-law.