Monteiro (Dr. João António)
We only know of two Madeirans who notably distinguished themselves in the field of natural sciences – José Vicente Barbosa du Bocage (vol. I, page 125) as a zoologist and João António Monteiro as a mineralogist – both of whom left several works that attest to their profound knowledge in these branches of human knowledge.
João António Monteiro, whom several foreign authors call the Portuguese sage, was born in this city on May 31, 1769, the son of the wealthy merchant Pedro Jorge Monteiro and D. Maria Teresa de Gusmão. He was baptized with the name João António, in homage to his godfather João António de Sá Pereira, who was then the governor and captain-general of this archipelago, and who later became the baron of Alverca.
The circumstances of his life until the year 1791 are completely unknown to us, when he received the degree of doctor in the faculty of philosophy at the University of Coimbra, and shortly thereafter was admitted there as a lecturer in mineralogy. Having received the capelo at such a young age and always showing in his entire life evidence of a brilliant talent and the most devoted love for work, we must believe that he had been a distinguished student from the primary school benches.
Dr. João António Monteiro exercised university teaching with remarkable distinction, his name being placed alongside those of José Bonifácio de Andrade e Silva and Manuel José Barjona, who, due to the new orientation they gave to the teaching of natural sciences and the depth of their knowledge, are considered true ornaments of our first educational establishment.
Dr. Monteiro did not linger long in the teaching career, desiring to broaden the scope of his knowledge abroad, dedicating himself entirely to profound studies, which earned him a great reputation in all the scientific centers of Europe. He left the country in 1804, undertaking a long scientific journey through various European countries, and never returned to Portugal, for reasons that are completely unknown today.
By decree of May 11, 1804, he was appointed professor of one of the chairs of the chemical laboratory of Lisbon, recently created, a position that it seems he did not actually hold, and shortly thereafter commissioned by our government to make the scientific journey to which we refer, with the respective royal charter guaranteeing him seniority, salaries, and other prerogatives, as if he were in the effective regency of his chair at the University.
Once abroad, he devoted himself entirely to his scientific work, as evidenced by the important writings he left scattered in many foreign journals and publications, which were never compiled into volumes, in addition to various separate pamphlets.
Regarding the value of Dr. Monteiro's work and his scientific merit, let us transcribe some passages about him from Dr. Joaquim Augusto Simões de Carvalho's historical Memoir of the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Coimbra, published in 1872:
"This Portuguese sage honors the homeland with the vastness of his knowledge, especially in mineralogy. Beginning his work in Paris, where he published interesting memoirs, he then went to Germany to attend the lessons of the famous Werner, in Freyberg. Here, he distinguished himself with important scientific studies in crystallography and the natural history of minerals, to the point of deserving honorable mentions from famous German and French mineralogists.
Hauy and Binet, in a session of the philomatic society in Paris, presented a very flattering report about a memoir by this illustrious Madeiran, which had as its subject the direct determination of a new variety of the crystalline form of calcium carbonate and the remarkable properties it manifests.
Hauy, in his treatise on mineralogy and in many memoirs, always cites with the highest praise the observations and works of Dr. Monteiro. The memoir on "red sulphide arsenic" published by the eminent French mineralogist in the Annals of the Museum of Natural History, is entirely based on communications from our wise compatriot."
The memoir on many new varieties of topaz, published by Dr. João Antonio Monteiro in the collection of the royal academy of sciences of Bavaria, earned him the title of a member of such a illustrious scientific corporation.
"Schrauf, in his treatise on physical mineralogy, Friedrich Mohs, in his fundamental principles of mineralogy, Haiduiger, in his manual of mineralogy, and many other of the most respectable and authorized writers of Germany, allude in honorable terms to the works of Dr. Monteiro and his illustrious contemporary José Bonifacio d'Andrade e Silva".
In addition to the scientific works mentioned, the Bibliographic Dictionary by Inocencio mentions the Memoir on the fluorspar of Vesuvius and a translation of the famous work by Dr. Jenner on the vaccine, published in Lisbon in 1803, not to mention numerous writings that he had included in the private publications of many foreign scientific societies.
Dr. João Antonio Monteiro, one of the most illustrious sons of this land, died in Paris in 1834, at the age of 65.