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U.Porto Memory

University of Porto Famous Alumni

José Leite de Vasconcelos

José Leite de Vasconcelos 1858-1941 Doctor, ethnographer, archeologist, philologist, museologist and university teacher

José Leite de Vasconcelos Pereira de Melo was born in the heart of an aristocratic family in the wine village of Ucanha in Tarouca town council, on the 7th July 1858. He was the son of José Leite Cardoso Pereira de Melo (1810-1881) and Maria Henriqueta Leite de Vasconcelos Pereira de Melo (1815-1894).

He spent his childhood and youth in a rural environment rich in historical heritage, which awakened his interest in the observation of traditions and local customs.

He left Beira to work in Porto, in a high school and in a college, thus providing for his family and ensuring his studies in S. Carlos College and, later, in Medical-Surgical School of Porto.

During his Medicine course he wrote one of his first works - "Tradições Populares Portuguesas" ["Portuguese Popular Traditions"] – and published the booklet "Portugal Pré-Histórico" ["Pre-Historic Portugal"] (1885), possibly influenced by the Lisbon Congress of 1880.

By the end of the course and after having defended his thesis "A Evolução da Linguagem" (["The Evolution of Language"] (1886), Leite de Vasconcelos received the "Prémio Macedo Pinto", for best student. Then, he undertook the role of Health Officer by sub delegation for six months in Cadaval, where his family lived.

Discharged of that position, he took over as curator of the National Library in February 1888. During the 23 years that he worked in this institution he had the chance to consolidate the general outlines of his investigation and literary work. He taught Numismatics and Philosophy courses and started the publishing of "Revista Lusitana" (the 1st number dates from 1887-1889).

In 1901 he received his PhD in Philology at the University of Paris, defending the thesis "Esquisse d’une dialectologie portugaise", distinguished as "très honorable". Around that time, he engaged in solid relationships with prestigious figures and developed researches in rare works from foreign libraries. In the Leiden Library he discovered "A canção de Sancta Fides de Agen", a medieval manuscript he published in 1902. In the Vienna Palatine Library he identified the "Livro de Esopo" ["Book of Aesop"], which he published in 1906.

Based on the work he had done in the National Library, he committed to the creation of a museum dedicated to the knowledge of the origins and traditions of the Portuguese people, a project supported by Bernardino Machado, by then Minister of the Public Works and the person responsible for creating the Portuguese Ethnographic Museum in 1893. Initially installed in a room of the Board of Geological Works, this museum was transferred to a wing of the Jerónimos Monastery in 1900. Inaugurated on the 22nd April 1906, it was named Ethnological Museum (today National Archaeology Museum), denomination it has held since 1897.

The museum’s property grew as a result of archeological excavations and ethnographic campaigns across the country, reported in the "Archeologo Português", a prestigious magazine published since 1895. Among many of the local collaborators with whom Leite de Vasconcelos exchanged information there are some renowned figures of the Portuguese culture, such as Manuel Francisco Alves (1865-1947), Abbot of Baçal and author of the work "Memórias Arqueológico-históricas do Distrito de Bragança" ["Archeological-Historical Memories of the District of Bragança"], Augusto Mendes Correia (1888-1960), Ricardo Severo (1869-1940) and Rocha Peixoto (1866-1909).

Until he turned 80, he undertook numerous expeditions in Portugal, visited several European countries and went to Egypt to participate in the Cairo Congress of 1909, in which he presided the section of Pre-Historic Archaeology. These tours allowed him to collect material for the museum and create friendship bonds with colleagues both Portuguese and foreign.

In 1911 he was invited to integrate the teaching staff of the newly created Faculty of Letters of the University of Lisbon as extraordinary Professor of Classical Philology. Thus, he was forced to abandon the National Library, although he maintained the direction of the Museum (annexed to the FLUL in 1913). In this Faculty he taught such subjects as "Numismatics", "Epigraphy" and "Archaeology". In 1914 he requested Bernardino Machado to give him the status of Professor of "Archaeology".

In 1929 he reached his age limit and retired. In his honour, the Ethnological Museum was named after him and Leite de Vasconcelos received the title of honorary director. From then on he focused on his writing, for example the remarkable project Portuguese Ethnography published in several volumes by the National Press. He was awarded numerous distinctions, such as the Grand-Cross of the Public Education and Benefaction, the Commendation of the Legion of Honour (1930) of France, the Grand-Cross of the Military Order of Santiago da Espada (1937), and many others, achieved throughout his career, such as correspondent of the Institute of France (1920).

José Leite de Vasconcelos died in Lisbon on 17 May 1941 among friends, leaving behind a monumental and versatile work about the "Homem Português" ["Portuguese Man"], with detailed works in the areas of ethnography, philology, archaeology, numismatics and epigraphy. He was also the author of some poetry and of the largest Portuguese epistolary (24.289 letters from 3.727 correspondents, published in 1999), a result of the wide network of contacts he had established throughout his life.

This major figure of Portuguese contemporary culture was a great scholar, a demanding teacher and an eternal celibate. He lived in a simple and stern way, sensitive and kind towards the most unfortunate. He nurtured a great care for animals, particularly cats.
(Universidade Digital / Gestão de Informação, 2011)