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Contributo para a análise da elite tecnocrática portuguesa de Oitocentos: esboço biográfico do engenheiro Manuel Afonso Espregueira (1833-1917)

2017; University of Porto; Volume: 7; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.21747/0871164x/hist7_2a5

2183-0460

Hugo Silveira Pereira,

History of Education Research in Brazil

In the second half of the 19 th century, in Portugal, an elite of men of science and technology, who had previously contacted with the saint-simonianist ideology, led the implementation of the public works programme historically known as Fontismo (after its main promoter, Fontes Pereira de Melo).One of the members of that elite was engineer Manuel Afonso de Espregueira.In this paper we will write his biographical sketch, using Marcel Mauss's concept of persona, reconfigured as scientific persona -created in particular for the biographical analysis of persons of science and technology.We will read on a varied array of primary sources, spread across sundry archives and libraries, in order to accompany the life path of Espregueira and characterize his academic, technical/professional and political course.In the end, we aim to illustrate the relevance of Espregueira's career for the public works agenda of Fontismo and for the formation of the persona of the Portuguese engineer of the 19 th century.