Lobato Machado (Bernardo Francisco)

He was born on this island in 1802 and died in Funchal on 20 February 1878. He was a skilful ‘provisional’ lawyer (provisionista) and left several writings that enjoyed a well-deserved reputation in their day, especially a carefully prepared formulary on various legal questions. He became widely known as a journalist for the violence with which he attacked his opponents and for the abusive language he generally used, and he was forced to go into hiding to escape threats of likely reprisals. Only a few years ago people still often spoke of the bitterly scathing articles that Lobato Machado had published in the weekly newspaper A Vergasta, of which he was chief editor. He was a regular contributor to the newspapers Amigo do Povo, Clamor Publico and A Justiça.