Teixeira (Dr João Augusto)

He was born in the town (vila) of Ponta do Sol (‘point of the sun’) on 25 July 1845 and died in Funchal on 21 March 1907.

The words we transcribe below come from the former newspaper Heraldo da Madeira (‘Madeira Herald’) and are from the pen of one of the authors of this work:

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Dr João Teixeira distinguished himself chiefly as a physician and as a professor at our Medical-Surgical School, but he also displayed the remarkable gifts of his brilliant mind in other fields of human endeavour.

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He was an eminent and deeply learned physician, and the vast and complex science of medicine seemed to hold no secrets for him. Among his colleagues he was regarded as a true master, and his advice was always heeded and listened to with the respect due to the great oracles of science.

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In his last years he had almost given up his practice, which had once absorbed all his great energy. He devoted himself almost exclusively to teaching his chair, to hospital clinical work and to study, which he never abandoned.

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As a professor he was among the most distinguished. To vast learning and clarity of exposition he added a brilliant and attractive style, which gave his lessons a particular distinction and charm and was the admiration of those who heard him. On several occasions the School was visited by distinguished physicians while Dr João Teixeira was lecturing to his students from the professor’s chair. The visitors were truly astonished at the breadth of his knowledge and at the expert and most distinguished way in which he conducted his teaching, and one of them declared, on hearing him, that no one at our university lectured better or with deeper knowledge of the subject.

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Dr João Augusto Teixeira, who combined a most splendid talent with an astonishing memory, possessed immense erudition, gathered through his never-interrupted reading and his constant and diligent studies. No subject could be raised, however thorny and difficult, on which he could not discourse and converse with greater or lesser expertise.

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He had a special fondness for the Latin language, which he always cultivated with particular care, coming to know it deeply and becoming a true master of it. Not long ago we heard him speak in particular of the Latin translation of The Lusiads (Os Lusíadas) by Father Francisco de Santo Agostinho de Macedo, a remarkable work that he had just reread, and which he discussed with his keen mind and special knowledge of the subject.

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The illustrious deceased was always a most distinguished, prize-winning student, from primary school to the benches of the university. At Coimbra he revealed a superior intelligence, winning first prizes and leaving there a fine reputation for his application to study and for his real and undeniable talent. Even today his university contemporaries bear witness to this whenever Dr João Teixeira is mentioned, and among them must be counted Dr Bernardino Machado, his close friend and admirer. (1921).

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Dr João Augusto Teixeira was a lifelong member of the Regenerator party. In 1901 he withdrew from politics, at the time of the events that then took place within that party.

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In 1885 he was elected deputy for this island, and he defended Madeiran interests with ardent zeal. Particular mention should be made of a remarkable speech he gave in parliament on the wretched situation in which the neighbouring island of Porto Santo (‘holy harbour’) then found itself. In parliament he met many of his former fellow students and contemporaries from university, who rejoiced that a man whose worth and merits they knew so well was taking his seat in the Cortes (Portuguese parliament). It was then that he received from Fontes Pereira de Melo, the glorious leader of the Regenerator party, tokens of great esteem and regard.

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Despite the repeated entreaties of his political friends, Dr Teixeira refused to return to parliament. To draw him away from the tranquillity of his study and the comforts of his home, which he valued above all else, would have been to force on him a sacrifice that was beyond him.

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Among other public service appointments, the late doctor served as representative (procurador) to the former District General Council (Junta Geral do Distrito) and as a member of the central market delegation. ‘He was twice a teacher at our lyceum (state secondary school), a post he always filled with the competence that all acknowledged in him.

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As a professor of our Medical School, he held for many years the post of director of the medical wards of the Hospital of St Elizabeth of Portugal (Santa Isabel), with great zeal and remarkable proficiency, the hallmarks of his austere character and his vast medical knowledge.

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The illustrious deceased belonged to a family that produced a constellation of fine talents. Special mention is due to the late Canon Feliciano João Teixeira, Dr Manuel Joaquim Teixeira and Dr Nuno Silvestre Teixeira, professor at the Coimbra lyceum, all brothers of the man to whom we dedicate these lines; Dr João R. Passos, a United States citizen; Policarpo Passos Sousa, a distinguished poet; Dr Francisco dos Passos Sousa; Father João dos Passos Sousa, etc.