Carlos Ribeiro

Carlos Ribeiro (21 December 1813, in Lisbon – 13 November 1882, in Lisbon) was a pioneering geologist and archaeologist who inaugurated the concept of fieldwork in Portugal, and was responsible for the discovery and excavation of many Neolithic and other sites in Portugal. Director of the first Geological Commission of Portugal, he led production of the first edition of the Geological Chart of Portugal to the scale of 1/500,000, work which was awarded a silver medal at the Universal Exhibition of Paris (1878). He also served as an officer of the Portuguese army and as a Member of Parliament.

Biography From relatively humble beginnings Carlos Ribeiro began work at an early age after only a basic education, continuing to study while working. During this time he met Filipe Folque (1800-1874), an aristocratic military officer and mathematician who supported him with his studies, enabling him to obtain the necessary qualifications to enrol at the tertiary level. After fighting in the Portuguese Civil War (1828-34) in 1833–34, Ribeiro returned to studies by entering the Royal Academy of the Navy and, later, the Royal Academy of Fortification, Artillery and Drawing. His training earned him the rank of officer in 1837. In 1840 First-Lieutenant Ribeiro was transferred to Porto and there he entered the Polytechnic Academy to begin studies in geology. He carried out fieldwork in the area of Porto and began to develop his collections.

In 1845, he worked for the Lisbon Public Works Company, supervising works such as the construction of roads in the Lisbon area. He married Ursula Damasio, the sister of one of his teachers, in February 1846 and they had three children, José Victorino, Zélia and Sofia. In June of the same year he was dismissed from employment and removed from military service as a result of his support for the popular uprising known as the Maria da Fonte revolution, being imprisoned for a time during the Patuleia, or Little Civil War, until an amnesty was granted in June 1847 following the Convention of Gramido.

In 1868, he published a groundbreaking work on the forests of Portugal. The geological map of Mainland Portugal was sent to the International Exhibition of Paris of 1878. It won a silver medal. Later the geological map was updated by Nery Delgado who worked with him, and by the Swiss geologist, Léon Paul Choffat, a scientist that Ribeiro had met at that exhibition. Carlos Ribeiro was elected deputy in the legislature of 1870-1874 and, later, in the legislature of 1880–1881. He died in Lisbon on 13 November 1882.