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Joaquim Romero Magalhães and the History of Luso-Brazilian Cartography

2019; Volume: 17; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.26300/d433-x779

1645-6432

João Carlos Garcia,

Historical Geography and Geographical Thought

EnglishThe History of Portuguese Cartography underwent strong development during the Estado Novo, within a framework of nationalist historiography, supporting colonial postulates. The old charts were presented as evidence of the leading role of Portuguese science during the Renaissance, and as proof of the primacy of the Portuguese geographic discoveries and the rights of colonial occupation and exploration of different territories. With the democratic regime, in the early 1990s, the future of this field of knowledge in Portugal was not quite auspicious. Only two small study groups interested in the History of Cartography coexisted at the University of Lisbon and at the Institute for Tropical Scientific Research. The studies and the diffusion of the History of Luso-Brazilian cartography gathered momentum in Portugal from the mid-1990s, with the presence of Joaquim Romero Magalhaes (1942-2018) at the Comissao Nacional para as Comemoracoes dos Descobrimentos Portugueses, as Commissioner (1999-2002). His mission was to carry out the challenging task of “commemorating” the official arrival of the Portuguese navigators to South America. The “discovery of Brazil” and the relation between Portugal and Brazil, not only in the colonial period but also since the independence of that territory in 1822 to the present, were the major subjects for the organisation of great exhibitions, for publishing historical research works and primary sources, for granting scholarships, for the development of research projects, for organizing scientific meetings, for providing assistance to research centres. Under his supervision old maps and charts were always present in these events and works. portuguesA Historia da Cartografia Portuguesa conheceu um periodo de franco desenvolvimento durante o Estado Novo, no quadro de uma historiografia nacionalista e defensora dos principios coloniais. Os mapas antigos foram analisados como provas do papel de vanguarda da ciencia portuguesa nos seculos XV e XVI, como testemunhos da prioridade dos descobrimentos portugueses e dos direitos de ocupacao e exploracao colonial de territorios africanos, americanos e asiaticos. Na sequencia da implantacao do regime democratico, no inicio da decada de 1990, a situacao da Historia da Cartografia em Portugal, nao era a mais auspiciosa. Apenas dois pequenos grupos de investigadores se interessavam pelo tema, na Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Lisboa e no Instituto de Investigacao Cientifica Tropical. Os estudos e a divulgacao da Historia da Cartografia Luso-Brasileira ganharam um novo impulso, com a presenca de Joaquim Romero Magalhaes na Comissao Nacional para as Comemoracoes dos Descobrimentos Portugueses (1996-2002). A principal missao era “comemorar” a chegada oficial dos navegadores portugueses a America do Sul. O “achamento do Brasil” e a relacao entre Portugal e o Brasil, nao so no periodo colonial mas tambem desde a independencia do territorio, foram os grandes temas para a organizacao de exposicoes, edicoes de fontes e estudos historicos, concessao de bolsas de estudo, estabelecimento de projetos de investigacao, organizacao de reunioes cientificas, apoio a centros de investigacao e a instituicoes academicas e culturais. Sob a coordenacao de Romero Magalhaes, em muitas destas realizacoes estiveram presentes os mapas antigos, com um destacado papel.