Culture

Abel Salazar house museum
13 November, 2020 / , ,

Located in S. Mamede Infesta, it is a construction from the end of the XIX century. An 17th century chapel is attached, which served as a workshop for the patron. It was in this house that the last years of existence of the Portuguese scientist and professor passed.
In the permanent exhibition of the house, in addition to the collection of paintings, drawings and prints, there are utensils and scientific writings by Abel Salazar, as well as original pieces of furniture from the house.

The Casa-Museu restores part of the patron’s family atmosphere, through personal objects and portraits, as well as testimonies of the activity of the researcher, pedagogue and disseminator of civic interventions, through letters, manuscripts, typographic proofs, newspapers and magazines where he collaborated.
The doctor’s library and the Alberto Saavedra library are also located in the house, with a specialized documentary background on the life and work of Abel Salazar.

In the garden, there is the Calouste Gulbenkian Pavilion, with a regular program of exhibitions with contemporary artists.
It was Abel Salazar’s friends and admirers who, after his death, thought that the greatest tribute they could pay him was to transform his home into a foundation.
Several initiatives were undertaken to raise funds in the task of defending and publicizing the Work of Abel Salazar, including the purchase of the house for transformation into a museum. But it was only almost 11 years later that the “Sociedade Divulgadora da Casa-Museu Abel Salazar de S. Mamede Infesta” was created.
However, the difficulties continued and the Sociedade Divulgadora appealed to the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, which acquired, in 1965, all artistic, literary and scientific work and the property and l

and attached to the Casa-Museu.
During the period that belonged to the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, the house was closed to the public for restoration works, construction of the guardhouse and the pavilion for periodic exhibitions.
In 1975, the Foundation was no longer able to assume the responsibilities of the House and raises the question of the Casa-Museu being donated to the University of Porto, which was superiorly authorized to accept the donation.

The Abel Salazar House-Museum, under the supervision of the University of Porto, is run with the support of a Sociedade Divulgadora, a cultural entity and considered to be of Public Utility. Centered on the human, social and artistic value of the patron, the Casa-Museu aims to stimulate interest in the work of Abel Salazar in the different branches he cultivated, to activate the publication of studies around the different skills of the scientist, to foster collaboration with schools and cultural and recreational organizations, to complete the work of inventorying and investigating the literary estate both published and unpublished, assuming itself as an irreplaceable information and research center for the artist and scientist Abel Salazar.

Abel Salazar
13 November, 2020 / , ,

Abel de Lima Salazar was not only the doctor and scientific researcher, until today known for his achievements, but also a writer, art critic, essayist and visual artist. Despite his name being inextricably linked to Porto, Guimarães was the city that saw him born on July 19, 1889.

Student of excellence, Abel Salazar finishes the medical course at the Medical-Surgical School of Porto presenting his inaugural thesis “Essay on Philosophical Psychology” which ends up classified with 20 values.

At the age of 30, 3 years after completing his studies, he is appointed Full Professor of Histology and Embryology at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, eventually founding and directing the University’s Institute of Histology and Embryology, still in operation today.

His research work was quickly recognized and disseminated, reaching worldwide fame, due to numerous publications of articles in scientific magazines, Portuguese and foreign.

As a researcher, he contributed, in particular, with works related to the structure and evolution of the ovary, creating the now famous, and still used, Salazar’s tano-ferric staining method.

However, the work so intense that he developed, even in very adverse conditions, led to an exhaustion and the interruption of this activity, for a period of four years.
He would then end up dedicating himself diligently to the elaboration and publication of scientific texts, also focusing on the artistic practice of which he was a notable representative, especially in painting, engraving and hammered copper.

This multifaceted man, whose motto was “The Doctor who only knows Medicine, nor Medicine knows”, one of the greatest Portuguese intellectuals of his time, only in 1941, was reinstated at the University, in the laboratory of the Faculty of Pharmacy of Porto.

He died in 1946, in Lisbon, where he was being treated for lung cancer. He was 57 and a heavy smoker. The body was transferred to the city of Porto, where it was deposited at the Prado Repouso Cemetery.

Nowadays, its name is immortalized through the Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar, the square, where the Santo António Hospital is located , Secondary Schools and the Abel Salazar House-Museum.

Hospital Santo António – 250 years of City Hospital
6 November, 2020 / , ,

Located in the Historic Center of Porto, more specifically in Largo do Professor Abel Salazar, Hospital de Santo António completed, in 2020, 250 years since the first stone was laid.

The history of Hospital de Santo António emerges as a saga of determination, boldness and altruism. Right from the start, its construction, which, regardless of the megalomania of the project and the location error, very swampy, constituted a pressing need for the city in transformation.

However, it was demonstrated that, in order to build and maintain their Hospital, the people of Porto and their Misericórdia often found themselves alone and dismayed by the power that, at decisive moments, treated Porto with the pride of a centralism that only in the mid-twentieth century would begin to look at the city in the right measure of its hospital needs.
On 15 July 1770, the vacant land on the outskirts of Largo gave way to the construction of the Hospital, but the proposal presented by the English architect John Carr did not come to be fully implemented, such was its size, grandeur and cost. The start of construction was faced with an unexpected difficulty, the terrain that was very moist and swampy, making it difficult to build the foundations that would support the building. John Carr, who never came to Porto, designed the interiors in brick. The option for granite was expensive and prolonged the construction.

In addition to the geographical problems, the first years of construction were marked by the “turbulence” of the French invasions, between the 1770 and the beginning of the 19th century, causing only two thirds of the project to be carried out.

Further on in history, and already after the inauguration of the unit, which happened only in 1824, the country waged a civil war between absolutists and liberals and, later, still faced the bubonic plague and the Spanish flu of 1918.

It is also in 1825 that it is associated with the hospital, the Porto Medical-Surgical School, ancestor of the Faculty of Medicine of Porto that operated there until the end of the year 1959, moving to the newly built Hospital São João.

After 20 years, in 1979, the hospital again receives students from the 4th year of the medical course at the Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar (ICBAS) at the University of Porto, ensuring the regency of most of the curricular units. Currently, the average admission is the highest among the 7 integrated Master’s degrees in Medicine from Portuguese universities.
The building is the most Palladian of Portuguese buildings, and the largest, built outside the British Isles, developing on several floors, in a sober, simple and symmetrical way, but with well-defined volumes animating the surface.

It became the “city hospital” and, since 1910, it is considered a National Monument.

Today the Hospital de Santo António is the anchor of the Centro Hospitalar Universitário do Porto, which also incorporates the Jacinto de Magalhães Medical Genetics Center and the Northern Albino Aroso Maternal and Child Center, resulting from the merger of the Júlio Dinis Maternity and the Children Hospital Maria Pia, as well as the human and cultural heritage of the Joaquim Urbano Infectious Diseases Hospital.

CHUP is dedicated to assistance, teaching, medical internships, training, innovation and clinical and scientific research. The direct reference area ranges from the cosmopolitan seafront to the old islands of Porto, passing through the city, working class neighborhoods and villages of Gondomar. It has about 4400 workers, from dozens of professions. Each day that passes, there are about 100 admissions, 2900 consultations, 140 scheduled surgeries, 420 emergency episodes, 300 episodes of day hospital and 10
parturition .

Each week, it hosts a new international multicentre clinical trial and places four scientific articles on an international basis. The library has numerous resources for searching and obtaining bibliography. The Museum of Medicine and Pharmacy is part of the Portuguese Museum Network, linking the hospital to the city and to tourists.

Learn about Siza Vieira through his work
7 October, 2020 / , ,

The most renowned Portuguese architect has designed  created homes, museums, schools and even a metro station in the area of ​​greater Porto.

The Casa de Chá/Restaurante da Boa Nova and the Piscina das Marés, both in Leça da Palmeira, are two of the most famous works of this architect. Dating from the 60s, an early stage of his career, both are located in the hometown where he was born. In addition, in Matosinhos, the Monument in honour of the poet António Nobre, the esplanade of Leça da Palmeira or the swimming pool of the Quinta da Conceição are other examples of the work of the Pritzker Prize winner.

In Porto there are also several public spaces designed by Siza Vieira, such as the Faculdade de Arquitetura da Universidade do Porto (Porto Faculty of Architecture), the Museum of Contemporary Art of the Serralves Foundation; projects which were completed in the 90’s. Siza Vieira’s trait also exists in social housing, such as the San Vittore district or the neighborhood of Bouça, in office buildings and even the tomb of the poet Eugenio Andrade.

Among his most recent works and more visible to the general public are, for example, the renewal of the Avenida dos Aliados and the metro station of Sâo Bento, both located in the city centre.

Siza Vieira is also responsible for the new Chapel Afurada in Vila Nova de Gaia, which will soon be built. Marco de Canaveses, Gondomar and Vila do Conde are also cities with projects created by the architect.

Porto city of Labor and Freedom
7 October, 2020 / , , ,

To affirm that Porto is the city of work – it is a brand image, certainly adequate and fair, but that does not guarantee, by itself, that all Porto people love the work or that there are not many other lands that deserve the same praise.

In any case, such fame reflects the external recognition that its people are hardworking and that throughout history they have been affirmed by work, that is, by business as opposed to leisure.
However, Porto is not just the city of work.

The Portuguese tradition, corroborating the opinion of 19th century scholars and historical events of ‘national projection’, attributes the epithet of Land of freedom to it, an older and more noble coat of arms than the previous one, which, contrary to hypothetical considerations about a deep lost paradise biblical, not only does not belie it but even complements it.

In fact, work, whether or not it is a consequence or punishment of the original fall, is a condition of success for the common man.

But … work without freedom is always slavery
Fonte: O Tripeiro 7ª série Ano XVI Número 6 e 7 Jun/Jul 1997

Writers’ route through Porto ( Camilo Castelo Branco )
1 October, 2020 / , ,

Although, he was born in Lisbon (1825) the illegitimate son of an aristocrat with his maid, at the age of 5 he came to live to the north – Vila Real, a mother orphan. At just 16 years old he married, and in 1843, 2 years later, he was a father. That same year he came to Porto to live alone, to Rua Escura, in the historic and picturesque district of the cathedral, to study medicine. Later he lived in the Hotel Paris, on Rua da Fábrica.

He was an elegant man, he was a renowned journalist and writer. In 1850, he enrolled at the Porto Seminary, where he studied theology and founded 2 religious newspapers.

Camilo’s life in Porto was intense, controversial and bohemian and caused some scandals of a loving nature. He was celebrated for his passion for Ana Plácido and consequent imprisonment in the jail of Relação. From these events, his most famous work “The Love of Perdition” was born, which was immortalized by a statue of the two, which can be seen next to the jail where both were imprisoned.

In 1868, Camilo returned to Porto to live on Rua de Santa Catarina and Rua de S. Lázaro, after marrying Ana Plácido and with her founded and directed the city’s Gazeta Literária.

The 1980s were very turbulent because they already saw very badly and maintained controversial relations with various masters of society. He was physically threatened several times and bought a revolver to defend himself. Ironically 7 years later he would use it to commit suicide after realizing that his blindness had no cure.
Camilo was buried in the cemetery of Lapa.

Until today, manuscripts of correspondence between Camilo, Ana Plácido and Freitas Fortuna and numerous Camillian objects are found in the Order of Lapa, such as the revolver with which he committed suicide, a silver snuff box, with the last note he used, the spyglass , the quill and the quill pen that served him recently, a book by Droz that Camilo began to translate in Cadeia da Relação, a conch that served Camilo as paperweights and his favorite inkwell.

The tenderness
22 September, 2020 / ,

Work of the sculptor
José Fernandes de Sousa Caldas

The sculpture is in the Palácio de Cristal Gardens

Writers’ route through Porto ( Júlio Dinis )
21 September, 2020 / , ,

Júlio Dinis (1839-1871), was born and baptized in Porto, in the parish of S. Nicolau.

He studied in Miragaia where he wrote the first literary texts, and studied medicine at the University of Porto. In 1852 and 1853, he lived in the village of Noêda, in the parish of Campanhã. In 1874 the writer moved in with his cousin’s family to Rua de Costa Cabral, in the parish of Paranhos, where he would later die of tuberculosis – he was 32 years old.

When he attended the first year of the Polytechnic Academy, he became acquainted and maintained an intimate friendship with the poet Soares de Passos, and from this circumstance he intensified his love of beautiful letters. He also participated in theater groups, and collaborated with Jornal do Porto.

In his books “Os Fidalgos da Casa Mourisca”, “A Morgadinha dos Canaviais” and “Uma Família Inglesa” we can find many references to the city where he was born, lived and died.

A sculptural ensemble, with a female figure who places a wreath near the poet’s bust, in low relief. He was buried in the cemetery of Cedofeita, together with his brother.

Ricardo Jorge – Precursor of the National Health System
21 September, 2020 / , ,

Ricardo de Almeida Jorge was born in Porto, on May 9, 1858.
He attended the Porto Medical-Surgical School between 1874 and 1879, finishing his medical course at the age of 21, with a dissertation “The nervousness in the past” Starting his professional life at the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery of Porto. In 1880, he taught Anatomy, Histology and Experimental Physiology at the same Faculty and competed for the position of substitute professor in the Surgery Department of the same school. He elaborates a work on Driving Locations in the Brain, at a time when neurology was taking its first steps. Not delaying clinical practice, he travels abroad several times, attending the lessons of the neurologist Charcot.
Meanwhile returning to Porto, he published several articles in scientific journals and set up the first microscopy and physiology laboratory in Porto.
As neurology was his first interest, he left a monumental work, covering diverse subjects, focusing most of his legacy on the specialties of Hygiene and Epidemiology. His style goes beyond a man of science, as we can see in a comment by Camilo Castelo Branco of whom he was a friend “The style of Ricardo Jorge dismay everything that is known in parliamentary oratory, academic dialectics, civic eloquence of clubs and even in pulpit oratory … ”, in the work Serões de S. Miguel de Seide.
The studies carried out on hydrotherapy and Ricardo Jorge’s interest in thermalism and hydrology (carrying out some experiments on the effects of alkaline fluorides and in thermal waters) follow, in 1888, the exploration contract for fifty years, of Caldas do Gerês , where he held the position of clinical director between 1889 and 1892. Companhia das Caldas do Gerês, with no vocation for business activity, went bankrupt in 1893.initiative.
He received the Armando Basto (1954), António Carneiro (1955), Henrique Pousão (1957) awards. He was also distinguished with the Medal of Cultural Merit of the Chamber of Cerveira (1982) and with the gold medals of the Chambers of Porto, in 1988, and of Gaia, in 2002. He is represented in public and private collections, among which: Museum do Chiado; Machado de Castro Museum among others. In 2006 he presented an anthological exhibition of his work at Casa-Museu Teixeira Lopes, in Vila Nova de Gaia
On June 10, 2006, he was made Grand Officer of the Order of Merit.
Several debates about the installation of cemeteries in Porto, led Ricardo Jorge to give a series of conferences (1884), in a contesting attitude to what the health authorities thought about social hygiene, contributing to a great debate. It was a fundamental moment in the evolutionary process of public health in Portugal.
At the invitation of the Porto City Council, he was part of a study on the health conditions of the city, preparing a report published in 1988. He was appointed Porto’s municipal doctor in 1891, receiving another invitation in 1892 to administer the Municipal Health Services. and Hygiene of Porto and the Municipal Laboratory of Bacteriology.
In 1895 he was appointed Professor of the Chair of Hygiene and Legal Medicine at the Medical-Surgical School of Porto.
The studies of Ricardo Jorge, Arantes Pereira and the Count of Samodães, helped to influence Queen D. Amélia in the creation of the National Assistance to Tuberculosis and the construction of sanatoriums for the sick.
In 1899 Porto was hit by an outbreak of bubonic plague (in theory extinct in the West since 1700). Ricardo Jorge makes the diagnosis reporting to the competent authorities the outbreak of the epidemic. International aid was immediately requested and two hundred tubes of “Yersin” serum were ordered from the Pasteur Institute in Paris. Although several people were vaccinated by Dr. Calmette, among whom Ricardo Jorge’s own children, knowing this very well the conditions for the development of the plague, put in place strict sanitary measures and elimination of the disease-transmitting agents such as rats and fleas (for each large rat delivered to a police station, 20 reis were paid for each small 10), in addition to preventive measures for the eradication of the pest (isolation of patients and disinfection of houses where pathological cases were found)
The Health Council enacted a sanitary cordon around the city, defended by the army, however, the economic damage resulting from isolation and the instigation by some political groups led to a population revolt, resulting in some violent episodes.
Although protected by the authorities and counting on the solidarity of the doctors of Porto Ricardo Jorge leaves for Lisbon where he is appointed Inspector-General of the United Kingdom’s Health Services, hygiene lens at the Lisbon Medical-Surgical School and member of the Higher Council for Hygiene and Health .

In 1899 he created that of the Directorate-General for Health and Public Benefit and the Central Hygiene Institute, later Instituto Superior de Higiene (which today bears his name).

We can say that Ricardo Jorge at the end of the 19th century gave rise to a deep reform in public health in Portugal, in all aspects that are within his reach (academic, legislative and research)

The political instability of the First Republic did not allow the development envisioned by Ricardo Jorge and it was only during the Estado Novo with Marcelo Caetano as President of the Council of Ministers that a new impetus to health issues was given, the health model presented by Baltazar Rebelo de Sousa and Gonçalves Ferreira, key to the creation of the future National Health System.

An interesting curiosity was the fact that he banned coca-cola in Portugal (in 1927 as Director-General of Health), as reported after taking notice of the advertising slogan created by Fernando Pessoa “First you get strange, then you get involved”. It was only in 1977 that this ban was lifted.

He was active until almost the end of his life, intervening and participating in a meeting of the International Hygiene Office three months before he died in Lisbon, on July 29, 1939.

The day the king visited Porto
21 September, 2020 / , , ,

In November and December 1908 D. Manuel II, who would become the last king of Portugal, made a long journey to the north of the country and spent several days in Oporto.

On one of these days, and after his mother, Queen Amélia, having shopped in a large store in the city, the people gathered at Campo da Regeneração (currently Praça da República) for a military parade.

The newspapers of the time headlined that many people went up to the rooftops to watch the parade, however, cars, trams that headed to the place had to turn back due to the concentration of people.

The Royal cortege toured several streets of the Baixa and on Rua de Santa Catarina, they were received with a shower of flowers. At the end of the day a gala dinner was held at Palácio dos Carrancas.
Dona Amelia had a full day, having visited the atelier of the sculptor Teixeira Lopes.
After having traveled several localities of the north, D. Manuel II returned to Oporto, having participated in a soirée at Ateneu Comercial of Porto.
In another tribute to the king, the baths of Praia do Ourigo were named after the King. In October of 1910 the Republic was implanted and the designation was forever forgotten.

SOURCE: The Tripeiro 7th grade Year XVI Number 1
and 2 February 1997