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U.Porto Memory

University of Porto Famous Alumni

Abel Salazar

Abel Salazar 1889-1946 Medical doctor, scientist, professor, fine artist, art critic, writer and philosopher

(...)”(with) an extraordinary intelligence, he understood everything in all areas. He has always shown a sound tolerance, the only weapon that is able to burst the dikes built by intolerance to hold the freedom of thought. Spontaneously generous, he disseminated with his own bare hands his breakthroughs in science and art so that everyone could have access to his heritage. Abel Salazar embodies a transcending humanism, which goes far beyond the time and place when and where he lived.”(...)
(Speech delivered by Dr. Eduardo dos Santos Silva at Professor Abel Salazar’s funeral)

Abel Salazar was born on 19th July 1889, in Guimarães, eldest of Adolfo Barroso Pereira Salazar and Adelaide da Luz Silva Lima Salazar.
His father worked in Guimarães as secretary and librarian of Sociedade Martins Sarmento, was a French teacher at the Francisco de Holanda Industrial School and wrote regularly on the 'Revista Guimarães' magazine. This is the city where Abel Salazar accomplished his primary school studies, as well as part of his high school studies at the catholic secondary school. One of his colleagues was Manuel Gonçalves Cerejeira, who would later be the Patriarch Cardinal.
In 1903, Abel Salazar entered the Porto 'Liceu Central', in S. Bento da Vitória, where he accomplished the 7th grade in Sciences (1906-1907). His Republican and democratic perspectives (which would mark his whole life) were already to be noticed. Inspired by the political movements that were taking place, he published a Republican school newspaper ('O Arquivo'), together with other students. Beside his interest in the Republican ideology, the newspaper showed also his artistic skills, as he dedicated to drawing caricatures of his colleagues and his teachers.
In 1909 he registered at the Medical-Surgical School of Porto. His decision was probably influenced by his family, as he later admitted that he wished to become a Civil Engineer. The field of Engineering lost an excellent student, but Health Sciences gained an excellent professional. He gained his diploma in 1915, with the thesis 'Ensaio de Psicologia Filosófica' ('An Essay in Philosophical Psychology'), with a grade of 20, out of 20.
On 2^nd May 1914 he was named 2^nd provisional assistant of the 4^th grade (Pathological Anatomy), and was granted the role of 1^st provisional assistant of the 8^th grade (Medicine), by decree of 23^rd October 1915. Following a decision adopted by the School Council, Abel Salazar was hired to chair the discipline of Histology on 18^th October 1916. On 21^st April 1917 he was nominated by decree extraordinary professor of the 2^nd grade – Histology and Physiology. He was to be hired in 1918 as ordinary professor (art. 105 of the decree no. 4554, of the Estº Univ.º, published in the Diário do Governo, on 9^th July 1918).

In 1919, when he was only 30 years old, he was named full professor of Histology and Embryology. That same year he founded and directed the Institute of Histology and Embryology, a centre approved by the Senate of the University of Porto, on 4^th August, together with the Institute of Anatomy, which was directed by Joaquim Alberto Pires de Lima. The Institute of Histology was entitled to a very small budget, so that it fought all its life against the lack of resources. However, that did not discourage Abel Salazar, who managed to undertake extraordinary research projects, in spite of the circumstances.
As a scientist and as a professor, he represented the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto in several congresses and visits throughout Europe.
As a professor, he has always been original: in class, he adopted a very innovative pedagogical approach; he supported an open teaching format, based upon observation, research and scientific debate, and promoted the students ability for self-learning.
As a researcher, he undertook several research projects in order to clarify the structure and the evolution of the ovary, thus creating the famous method of tanoferric coloration, of microscopic analysis (Salazar’s tanoferric method). From 1919 to 1925 his work gained international renown, and his articles were published in many scientific journals. He published 113 scientific works on the Golgi and Para Golgi apparatuses, on the Tanoferric Method, ovary, connective issue, brain anatomy, cellular tissue, blood and microscopic drawing technique, among others. Together with Athias Marck and Celestino da Costa, he founded the Biological Sciences Portuguese Archives, which he also directed.

In 1921 he married to Zélia de Barros. They had no siblings. In 1926, after 10 years of a noteworthy work done under harsh circumstances, he suffered a nervous breakdown, and interrupted his activity for 5 years. When he returned to the Faculty in 1931, he had many projects in mind, but he suffered a great disappointment: the Institute, his institute, was practically abandoned, and lacked its library, which was in the meantime absorbed by the Anatomy department.
During the years that followed his return, he rebuilt the laboratory and proceeded with his work on the areas in which he was interested, such as science, art and philosophy. He participated in two 'Congresses of the Anatomists' (the 27th and 28th meetings, which took place in Nancy in 1932 and in Lisbon in 1933, respectively), and wrote several works and articles, namely in the journal 'Medicina', run by the Medicine students in Lisbon.

In the meantime, the political situation in Portugal got worse. The Dictatorship did not allow the expression of critical views, nor the dissemination of democratic ideals. Therefore, in 1935 Abel Salazar was unsurprisingly removed from the University (from his chair and from his laboratory); his access to the library was forbidden, and he was prohibited from leaving the country. And since dictatorships’s justifications are not original, the reason stated to expel him was "the dangerous influence of his pedagogical action on the university youth" (as passed by law on 5th June 1935).
In Ancient Greece, Socrates has been told the same. All that was left from the Histology laboratory fit one single cart.

By then, other professors of the University of Porto were also expelled, such as Aurélio Quintanilha, Manuel Rodrigues Lapa, Sílvio Lima and Norton de Matos.
From outside the University, he focused on social, philosophical (progressive ideals), political (anti-fascist), aesthetic and literary issues, as well as on the issues of artistic production. As a philosopher, he wrote mainly on the philosophy of sciences and religions, in books, magazines and newspapers, such as 'O Diabo', 'Sol Nascente', 'O Trabalho', 'Esfera' and 'Seara Nova'. As a writer, he wrote chronicles from the period spent in Paris, in the exile, in the 1930s, and pictorial descriptions in works such as 'As recordações do Minho Arcaico'. As an art critic, he wrote several thorough studies on Henrique Pousão, Soares dos Reis and Columbano, among others. As an autodidactic artist, Abel Salazar produced at home a wide collection of works of art, composed mainly of prints: paintings (landscapes, portraits, illustration of working women and Parisian women), mural paintings, water colour paintings, drawings, caricatures, sculptures and unordinary – and very much appreciated - engraved copper printings, which show the artist’s humanist spirit and his taste for experimentation.
In 1941, during a phase when the dictatorship was less intense, he directed the Centre for Microscopic Studies, at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Porto, created by the 'Instituto para a Alta Cultura', upon suggestion of Professor Mário de Figueiredo, the National Minister of Education of the time. In spite of the evident financial and resource restrictions, he proceeded with his research, with the cooperation of Adelaide Estrada.
From 1942 onwards, he also worked with the Portuguese Institute for Oncology, upon the invitation of Francisco Gentil, and published a considerable number of scientific works on Public Pathology. In 1944, he published Hematologia.

His death came as a surprise on 29 December 1946, in Lisbon, when he was staying at his sister’s (Dulce Salazar Dias Ribeiro) and his brother-in-law's (Dr. Dias Ribeiro) house to try and cure his serious health problems.
His body was carried to his city of Porto, where he was buried at the Cemitério do Prado Repouso.
Abel Salazar’s death was a means to fight against the regime and, at the same time, an immense mourning. The news of his death has shaken the Portuguese society: on its way to Porto, the body was diverted from Coimbra where several people were waiting to pay tribute to him. However, Porto was to witness the biggest homage ever paid to him. Thousands of people marched before the body of the 'wise' in the laying out room, and more than those attended the funeral procession.

The qualities of this extraordinary man of art and science were praised by Dr. Lobo Vilela, Ruy Luís Gomes, Eduardo dos Santos Silva, Virgílio Marques Guedes and Araújo Lima, as well as by the student Carlos Barroso. The coffin was carried on shoulders by ordinary citizens, who were replaced every ten steps. The last words were spoken by the mausoleum by Dr. Barata da Rocha. The following day, on 1st January 1949, his personal friend, Dr. Ruy Luís Gomes, was arrested by the political police and enquired on the funeral procession.
The year he died, the Abel Salazar Foundation was founded, which aimed to preserve and disseminate his precious and diverse artistic heritage. This heritage is made of sculptures, drawings, dummies, paintings, landscapes, engraved copper printings, oil portraits and engraved works (etchings, dry points and monotypes). Many years later, in 1965, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation purchased his house, in S. Mamede Infesta, Matosinhos, where he had lived for 30 years, as well as the household effects. In 1971, this institution also purchased the collection of works by the artist, which belonged to his sister. The Gulbenkian Foundation commissioned many restoration works of the House and the Museum and built an exhibition pavilion. In 1975, this precious property was passed to the University of Porto.
The House is currently managed by the University of Porto with the support of the Associação Divulgadora da Casa-Museu.
(Universidade Digital / Gestão de Informação, 2008)