Moniz (Dr Lourenço José)

He was one of the most distinguished Madeirans of the first half of the 19th century, combining a brilliant talent with a remarkable austerity of character. He and Dr Luís Vicente de Afonseca, who for several decades represented Madeira in parliament, were the men who championed the needs of this archipelago with the greatest self-denial and disinterest. They sought no posts for themselves and lent their support to no scandalous claims or shady dealings; they always lived in modest circumstances and died in almost destitute poverty.

Dr Lourenço José Moniz was born in the parish (freguesia) of Santa Maria Maior (‘St Mary Major’) in this city on 10 August 1789. His paternal uncle, Father Filipe Gomes Moniz, curate of the Cathedral (Sé Catedral), recognised in him a lively and precocious intelligence and took charge of his young nephew’s education. The boy fully lived up to the hopes that his devoted protector placed in him.

Having completed his preparatory studies in Funchal, Lourenço Moniz went to England to enrol in the faculty of medicine of the University of Edinburgh. The university enjoyed a worldwide reputation, and the physicians trained there were then highly regarded and considered very learned in their field. In England, although a foreigner with no deep knowledge of the country’s language, he fully upheld the reputation he had earned in Madeira, winning several prizes in various chairs of his university course. On 1 August 1815 he defended his inaugural thesis, De Ictero, written in Latin and published in London the same year.

On returning to his native land, he took up the practice of his profession with brilliant success. In 1824 he was appointed professor of a chair of humanities, which he later also taught at the lyceum (state secondary school) when it was established in 1837; he was a distinguished teacher there and its first rector. Likewise, when our Medical School was created in 1837, Lourenço José Moniz was appointed its professor and first director. He never actually held these posts, however, because they became incompatible with his seat as a deputy and the other official commissions he was then carrying out.

His austere character, his recognised talent and the high regard in which his fellow Madeirans held him naturally marked him out for high public office. Thus, in the first elections held after the promulgation of the Constitutional Charter (Carta Constitucional) in 1826, Dr Lourenço Moniz was elected deputy for Madeira to the Cortes (Portuguese parliament) that sat from 1826 to 1828.

When the Cortes were dissolved and absolute government proclaimed, Dr Moniz returned to Madeira. Soon, however, fearing the persecution that was beginning against supporters of liberal ideas, he had to leave his homeland. He sailed for the United States of America, where he stayed for some years, returning to Funchal after constitutional government had been restored.

At the very first elections, in 1834, he was elected deputy for this archipelago. In the nine following legislatures, which ran from that year until 1856, shortly before his death, he represented Madeira in parliament without interruption, except for the legislative session of 1842 to 1845. No other Madeiran has managed to represent his homeland in the Cortes for so long a period, which is eloquent proof of the selfless way in which he did so and of how hard he worked for the prosperity and advancement of his native soil.

Dr Moniz enjoyed the reputation of a distinguished parliamentarian, not only for the speeches he delivered but also as a member of various committees. He was rapporteur for many bills and reports, in which he always showed remarkable competence. On occasion he presided over the Chamber of Deputies, and he was held in high esteem by the most brilliant parliamentarians of every party faction.

He carried out important public service commissions, among them that of commissioner judge for maritime prizes at the Cape of Good Hope. In this difficult and hazardous mission, the manner in which he conducted himself before the British authorities brought great honour to the Portuguese name.

He was also civil governor of Coimbra, a member of the Overseas Council (Conselho Ultramarino), a member of various scientific and literary societies, etc. He died in Lisbon on 4 December 1857, at the age of 68. Here on the island a public subscription was opened to raise a mausoleum in the Alto de São João cemetery to hold his mortal remains, and on it the following epitaph can be read: HONOUR, SCIENCE, PATRIOTISM.

Here lies Councillor (conselheiro, honorary title of the royal council) Lourenço José Moniz, doctor of medicine and member of the Overseas Council. He was a deputy of the nation, representing Madeira, his homeland, for more than twenty years in successive legislatures. He was vice-president of the elective chamber in 1841, commissioner of studies in the district of Funchal, rector and professor of rhetoric at the lyceum (state secondary school) of the same city, and judge commissioner for maritime prizes at the Cape of Good Hope, and he carried out many other public service commissions without payment. He was born on the Island of Madeira on 10 August 1789. He always lived modestly and, at the end of so long a career, died poor in Lisbon on 6 December 1857. In testimony of their gratitude for the intelligence and unsurpassed zeal with which he always championed the interests of Madeira, and in tribute to his civic and moral virtues and his high scientific merit, the Madeirans had this monument erected to him.