Gomes (António Gil)
Biography of António Gil Gomes (1803–1868), a Madeiran liberal who went into exile in Rio de Janeiro in 1828 and returned in 1834 to write on economics and philosophy.
António Gil Gomes was born in the parish (freguesia) of Arco de São Jorge on 23 June 1803 and died in Funchal on 3 July 1868. He was the son of Captain João José Gil Gomes and Dona Maria Justina Gil Gomes. His liberal ideas forced him to leave Madeira in 1828, escaping the persecution and harassment suffered by some of his friends and relatives. In Rio de Janeiro, where he settled, he devoted himself to teaching and contributed regularly to various newspapers; he also wrote some pamphlets, which he published in that city. Once representative government had been established, he returned without delay to his native land, arriving in August 1834. Here he devoted himself to study and letters, keeping entirely aloof from party struggles and almost wholly withdrawn from social life. In Funchal he contributed extensively to many of the city’s newspapers, preferably on economic subjects, and also published here a pamphlet on customs reform and a book entitled Compilação de Elementos de Filosofia Racional. In his day he enjoyed a reputation as a man of uncommon intelligence and wide learning.
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 04-
António Gil Gomes was born in Arco de São Jorge.
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Fleeing Miguelist persecution, liberals such as the Moniz family, Caetano Alberto Soares and António Gil Gomes left for Brazil, while Bettencourt went to England.
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António Gil Gomes returned to Madeira after representative government was established.
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António Gil Gomes died in Funchal.
Place
Places mentioned · 03
Abroad
- Arco de São Jorge
Santana. Parish where António Gil Gomes was born.
North-coast parish of the municipality of Santana, separated from São Jorge in 1676, over which the Pico do Arco de São Jorge (837 m) rises. It still had no cemetery in 1862 and became a julgado of the Funchal comarca in 1927. It is linked to Boaventura by a path across the Entrosa escarpment, and its forests were damaged in the 1919 fire.
- Funchal
City where he died and where he wrote for local newspapers.
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.
- Rio de Janeiro
Brazil. City where he lived in exile, teaching and writing for newspapers.
Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil, appears in the Elucidário as the seat of the Portuguese court and as a city where many Madeirans lived, studied, taught, published and died. Among them were Paulo Perestrelo da Câmara, João de Oliveira Sá Camelo Lampreia and João da Silveira Caldeira, who headed the Mint there.
People
People mentioned · 03- António Gil Gomes1803–1868
Madeiran liberal writer and journalist who taught in Rio de Janeiro during his exile and later wrote on economic subjects in Funchal.
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Captain and father of António Gil Gomes.
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Mother of António Gil Gomes.