Jean Hyacinthe de Magellan

João Jacinto de Magalhães (1722–1790) was a Portuguese natural philosopher.

Life He was born in Aveiro, Portugal, on 4 November 1722. He seems to have been brought up at Lisbon, where he became a monk of the order of St. Augustine, and was pursuing his studies in the Portuguese capital when the city was destroyed by the earthquake of 1755.

At age 40 Magellan abandoned the monastic life. About 1764 he appears to have reached England and was in communication with Da Costa of the Royal Society in 1766. For some time he acted as tutor on continental tours, and made the acquaintance of leading scholars of the day, especially in the Netherlands. Magellan was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1774, and was a corresponding member of the academies of science in Paris, Madrid, and St. Petersburg.

Works Magellan's major works were: The Magellanic Premium, a prize given for advances in navigation, was established at the American Philosophical Society in 1786 by a grant given by him.