Gouveia (Francisco Bento de)
Biography of Francisco Bento de Gouveia (b. 1874), a Madeiran industrial experimenter who made paper from sugar-cane straw, silica from local trachytes and a table wine from the Jacquez grape.
He was born in the parish (freguesia) of Ponta Delgada (‘slender point’) on 16 July 1874 and has devoted himself to industrial studies and research, succeeding in making paper from sugar-cane straw and in extracting from Madeiran trachytes the silica needed to make glass. Some years ago he also took up oenological studies, going so far as to produce a type of table wine from the Jacquez grape, which won the approval of the late Batalha Reis. He was one of the editors of the former Diário Popular (‘The People’s Daily’), collaborated on a revue staged at the Teatro Manuel de Arriaga, and is a first-class inspector of agricultural products, although he has been absent from the service for some time now. (1921)
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 01Place
Places mentioned · 02
- Ponta Delgada
São Vicente. Birthplace of Gouveia.
Ponta Delgada is a parish on Madeira's north coast, one of the three parishes of the concelho of São Vicente, with a headland and a small fishing harbour. Its feast of Senhor Jesus is a great pilgrimage of vows, and it was the seat of a capitania-mor. It recorded 409 cholera deaths in 1856.
- Teatro Manuel de Arriaga
Funchal. Theatre where a revue he co-wrote was staged.
Funchal's municipal theatre, built with a loan by the council on the former convent grounds and the site of the 1823 market. Begun in 1884 and inaugurated in 1888 as Teatro D. Maria Pia, it was renamed after Manuel de Arriaga in 1921. It hosted revues such as A Madeira por dentro, lectures and concerts, including the 1921 orfeão.
People
People mentioned · 02- Francisco Bento de Gouveiab. 1874
Madeiran industrial researcher and first-class inspector of agricultural products, also an editor of the Diário Popular.
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Late wine expert who approved Gouveia's Jacquez table wine.