Froilano de Mello

Indalencio Pascoal Froilano de Mello (17 May 1887 – 9 January 1955) was a Portuguese Indian microbiologist, medical scientist, professor, author and an independent MP in the Portuguese parliament. During his scientific career, Mello was responsible for the discovery of thousands of protozoa, parasites and microbes which today bear the Latin names given by him, followed by his own surname. He served as mayor of Nova Goa from 1938 to 1945. During his tenure as an MP from 1945 to 1949, he represented the constituency of Portuguese India, namely its overseas provinces of Goa, Daman and Diu in the National Assembly at Lisbon.

Early life Indalencio Pascoal Froilano de Mello was born in Benaulim, Salcette concelho to Goan Catholic parents. He was the eldest son of the lawyer Constâncio Francisco de Mello, and Delfina Rodrigues. His maternal grandfather Dr. Raimundo Venâncio Rodrigues had been the mayor of Coimbra, member of the Cortes Gerais in Portugal and one of the first directors of Goa Medical College (then known as the Escola Medico–Cirurgica de Goa). De Mello's patrilineal ancestors were Catholics of Brahmin origin from Salcette.

Froilano de Mello's father died when he was twelve years old, which adversely affected the family's fortunes and brought about difficult times for the entire family. The rental income generated from the family properties managed by the caretaker was insufficient to meet the family's needs and consequently, the young Froilano had to work while he studied. Mello was the head of a Portuguese delegation to the World Leprosy Conference in Cuba and is known to have attended at least 40 World Conferences,

Medical campaigns Mello worked passionately to eradicate tuberculosis in Goa and malaria from Velha Goa. He organised the balustrade on the Mandovi River, from the centre of town up to Campal, lining the riverside avenue. He also planted trees in many of the streets of Panjim, with seeds of tropical trees from Cuba. These jacaranda and acacia trees, whose seedlings were planted in 1940, now provide shade to the streets which were originally lined only with coconut and ficus trees.

He worked tirelessly for the repeal of the discriminatory Portuguese Colonial Act of 1930, which had previously relegated non-Portuguese citizens to second-class status in the Empire. The repeal of this discriminatory act was unanimously approved by the National Assembly in 1950. Hedwig authored a book entitled Von der Seele der Indischen Frau (Tipografia Rangel, Goa, 1941) published also in translation, On the soul of the Indian women. The book is a psycho-sociological study of Hindu traditions as interpreted from proverbs and the impact of Aryan and Dravidian civilisations. Another son, Victor Froilano Bachmann de Mello (1927–2009), was a world-renowned geotechnical engineer.

Selected work

Malaria Contribution to the study of Malaria in Goa, All India Sanitary Conference, Lucknow, 1914. , Primeira Conferencia Sanitaria de Goa, Panjim, 1914. Also in Boletim Geral de Medecina e Farmacia, Nova Goa, 1914. , Ibid., 1914. , "Transactions of the VII Congress of the Far East Association of Tropical Medicine", Calcutta, 1928. , Boletim Geral de Medecina e Farmacia, Panjim, 1929. , Presse Médicale, Paris, September 1929. , Bulletin Soc. Pathologie Exotique, Paris, 1929. , , Lisbon 1930. Also in Boletim Geral de Medecina e Farmacia, Nova Goa 1930. , Bulletin Soc. Pathologie Exotique Paris, June 1931. A scheme for malarial sanitation in rural areas, The Antiseptic, Madras, September 1933. Premiere Campagne Antimalarienne active E0 Goa, Arquivo da Escola Medico Cirugica, Nova Goa, Seria B, 1934. . – Ibid,, 1934. On the mass chemoprophylaxis of malarial areas and its practical results, Medicina, Lisbon, 1935. , Jornadas Medicas Galaico-Portuguesas, Orense, 1935. Also in Portugal Medico, Poro, May 1936. Experimental studies on the treatment of malarial splenomgalies by the method of Ascoli, South Africa Medical Journal, November 1938. Also in the Compt Rendues du Congres de 1st South Africa Medical Association, Lourenco Marques, 1939. A Medecina Contemporanea, Lisbon, November 1938. Rivista Malariologia, Rome, 1938. Clinica, Higiene e Hidrologia, Lisbon, 1936. Treatment of malaria with special reference to the chemoprophylaxis of malaria in Portuguese India, South African Medical Journal, December 1938. Also in O Medico, Nova Goa, 1939. Acta Conventius Tertii de Tropicis ut que Malaria Morbis (Congress of Amsterdam, 1938). A Medecina Contemporanea, Lisbon, August 1937, Also in Boletim Geral de Medecina e Farmacia, Nova Goa, 1938.

Tuberculosis Estado Actual da Ciencia sobre a tuberculose pulmonar, Boletim Geral de Medecina e Farmacia, Nova Goa, 1912. Une nouvelle conception sur le mode d'action des tuberculines, Ibid., 1913. Um caso de antracose pulmonar simulando a tuberculose, Ibid., 1917. Un programe a suivre dans la declaration obligatoire de la tuberculose a l'Inde Portugaise, Revue d'hygiene et police Sanitaire, Paris, 1914. Conferencia Provincial sobre a Tuberculose, Boletim Geral de Medecina e Farmacia, Nova Goa, 1934.

Leprosy Presse Médicale, Paris, 1921. A Medecina Ibera, Madrid, 1925. communicated to the Congreso Luso Espanhol meeting in Coimbra, Boletim Geral de Medecina e Farmacia, Nova Goa, 1925. Presse Médicale, Paris, 1925. Arquivos Indo Portugueses de Medicina e Historia Natural, Vol. IV, 1927. Die Medizin Welt, Berlin, October 1928. Une croisade internationale, combattant la Lepre, simultanement dans tous les pays, pourrait eteindre ce fleau en quelques decades, Cogres de Medicine Tropicale du Caire, 1928. Revue D'hygiene et de Medicine Preventive NBA V, Paris, 1931 Treatment of Leprosy by intravenous injections of pure Chaulmogra oil, Medical Digest, Bombay, August 1935. Arquivo da Escola Medico Cirugica, Nova Goa, Serie B, 1915. XI Congres International de Dermatologie de Budapest, 1935 Jornadas Medicas Galaico-Portuguesas, Orense, 1935. Also in Portugal Medico, Porto, 1936. Leprosaria Central de Goa (Relatorio), Arquivo da Escola Medico Cirugica, Nova Goa, Serie B, 1937 II Semaine Medicale Internationale, Montreux, 1935. – Lecture in the Liga da Profilaxia Social, Porto, Volume das Conferencias, 1939. Also in Boletim Geral de Medecina e Farmacia, Nova Goa, 1938.