Gomes (Francisco Luiz)

This distinguished publicist (1829-1869), who wrote the Brahananes and other works of unquestionable value, suffered from a serious lung disease and came to this island seeking relief from his suffering, but did not find the cure he so desired in the mildness of our climate. The great novelist Julio Diniz (see this name), who met Francisco Luiz Gomes in Funchal, referred to him in a letter dated April 5, 1869, in the following terms: "Francisco Luiz Gomes is here in Funchal. I was disappointed when I saw him. It is a figure that no one sees without turning back after he passes. Imagine a skeleton in the strictest sense of the word, tall, slender; his legs bending under the weight of his body; his clothes fluctuating as if hanging from a nail; the copper color typical of Indians; the teeth bare and protruding. It's scary, poor thing! No one would say that there is a man of intelligence there!" Shortly after this encounter with Julio Diniz, Francisco Luiz Gomes left Madeira and headed to Portuguese India, his native land, succumbing to the ravages of pulmonary tuberculosis during the journey in the early days of October 1869.