Abstract
This paper describes the work of naturalist and astronomer Lacerda e Almeida, born in São Paulo. With a degree in Mathematics from the University of Coimbra, which was renovated in the late-1700s, he toured and described the inland of Brazil and Africa during the same period, at the behest of the Crown. Once his mission accomplished, Lacerda e Almeida was forgotten by the imperial administration and academic institutions of which he was a member. Nevertheless, after being ignored for decades, his writings and actions gained importance among Portuguese and Brazilian historians, as they were propagandized by colonialist institutions, such as the Sociedade de Geografia de Lisboa and the Junta Colonial de Investigações. Hence, this essay tries to historicize his journeys and his construction as a colonizer at the service of the Portuguese-Brazilian Empire, privileging his original diaries, available at the National Library of Rio de Janeiro.
Keywords:
Portuguese-Brazilian Empire; History of Portuguese colonization in Africa; African History; History of University