Silva (Nicolau Francisco Xavier da)
Biography of Nicolau Francisco Xavier da Silva, a Funchal-born canon lawyer and scholar (d. 1754) whose library formed the nucleus of the Ajuda library.
He was born in the parish (freguesia) of Santa Maria Maior (‘St Mary Major’) in this city in the last years of the 17th century, the son of José da Silva Pimenta and Josefa Maria Teixeira, and died in Lisbon on 17 August 1754. He took his doctorate in the faculty of canon law of the University of Coimbra (Universidade de Coimbra) in 1725 and taught there on an interim basis for some years. He settled in Lisbon, where he devoted himself with distinction to legal practice and to letters. He left several unpublished works and published the Puro e affectuoso sacrificio (Lisbon, 1724) and the Oração de agradecimento à Academia Real, printed in the Colecção of that Academy. He was a full member of the Royal Academy of History (Academia Real de Historia), which commissioned him to write the history of the inquiries (inquirições); he never completed it and it remained unpublished. He was considered one of the most learned men of his time. He assembled a choice library, which was bought by the monarch and formed the nucleus of the Ajuda Library (Biblioteca da Ajuda).
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 03Place
Places mentioned · 04
Abroad
- Ajuda Library
Portugal. Royal library whose nucleus was his collection.
Royal library whose nucleus was his collection.
- Coimbra
Portugal. University where he took his doctorate and taught.
Portuguese mainland university city where many Madeirans studied law or medicine, and where Padre Luís Gonçalves da Câmara taught and was rector of the Jesuit college. It hosted the 1921 academic table-tennis championship, and its dormancy and rainfall data are compared with Funchal's.
- Lisbon
Portugal. City where he lived, practised law and died.
The Portuguese capital, seat of the Relação court and of the Misericórdia whose privileges and statutes were extended to Funchal. Henrique Franco de Sousa studied at its Royal Academy of Fine Arts, and Luiz José Baiardo moved there in 1821.
- Santa Maria Maior
Funchal. Funchal parish where he was born.
A partly urban parish in the eastern part of Funchal, the oldest of the archipelago, also known as Nossa Senhora do Calhau or Socorro. Its church is the former St James church, and it is noted for embroiderers producing the finest work. It became a julgado of the Funchal comarca in 1927.
People
People mentioned · 03-
Funchal-born doctor of canon law, lawyer and member of the Royal Academy of History in Lisbon, whose library was bought by the king.
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Father of Nicolau Francisco Xavier da Silva.
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Mother of Nicolau Francisco Xavier da Silva.