Jesus (Dr Quirino Avelino de)

He was born in Funchal on 10 November 1865, the son of Manuel de Jesus and Dona Quirina Augusta de Jesus. After attending the preparatory classes of the seminary (Seminário) of this diocese and completing the second year of the theology course, he enrolled in 1887 in the Faculty of Law of the University of Coimbra (Universidade de Coimbra), graduating in 1892. While still a university student he contributed to various newspapers; the series of articles he wrote on the economic situation of Madeira became very well known, and at once revealed his future qualities as a writer and journalist.

Having graduated in law, he settled in the capital and devoted himself ardently to journalism, to legal practice and to the study of various social, religious and economic questions. He specialised in colonial affairs, on which he soon became a genuine and undisputed authority. In 1893 he published the book As Ordens Religiosas e as Misões Ultramarinas, and in the legislative session of 1897, as a deputy, he delivered a speech on the overseas question that established his standing as a distinguished colonial expert. This reputation was further strengthened by the publication of the remarkable review Portugal em Africa, of which he was for some years director and chief editor.

He devoted himself actively to journalism: he was director of the Correio Nacional and a regular contributor to, and later chief editor of, A Tarde, and in both these periodicals he waged campaigns that have left their mark on the chronicles of Portuguese journalism. His contributions to many newspapers and reviews are extensive and valuable. Most recently he has been director of the Economista Português, dealing at length with economic and financial questions, which at present (1921) constitute one of the facets of his intellect.

Although he never devoted himself professionally to the practice of law, he has nonetheless produced several legal works, among which one on the levadas (irrigation channels) of Madeira deserves special mention; it has been published as a pamphlet. As lawyer to the Funchal trading house of Hinton Sons, he wrote and published several pamphlets, which have already been mentioned in the article Hinton Question. Once a fierce and enthusiastic defender of the sugar regime (regímen sacarino, the legal regime governing sugar and alcohol production), both as a lawyer and as a publicist, he soon became, with equal ardour and conviction, an avowed enemy of that same regime.

Dr Quirino A. de Jesus was a head of department at the Caixa Geral dos Depósitos, a post to which he was appointed in 1890. He was elected deputy for Madeira on 25 November 1900, having previously represented the district of Braga in the Cortes (Portuguese parliament). At first a member of the Regenerator Party, he later joined the Nationalist Party, which he left because of disagreements with its leaders.

Besides being a distinguished prose writer, as the countless articles he has written on economic and colonial questions, public administration, jurisprudence, etc., etc., prove, he is also a poet of merit, having published an epic poem entitled Lusa Epopeia, which is little known in Madeira. He died in Lisbon on 3 April 1935.