Personalities

Illustrious children of the Ponta Delgada County

Since the 16th century, Ponta Delgada has been the birthplace of several individuals that have had an important impact, both locally and internationally − whose merits are widely acknowledged, due to the legacies they left in Ponta Delgada, and in Portugal, throughout their lives. Among these, we have decided to make reference to the following:

• Gaspar Frutuoso – 1522- 1591 - Chronicler and Historian;
• Francisco Afonso de Chaves e Melo - 1685 – 1747 - Historian and writer;
• António Borges – 1812 -1879 - Landscaper;
• José do Canto – 1820 – 1898 - Landscaper and bibliographer;
• Carlos Machado - 1828 – 1901 - Founder of the Carlos Machado Museum;
• Ernesto do Canto – 1831 - 1990 – Author of the Azores Archive;
• Marciano Henriques da Silva - 1831 – 1873 – Painter;
• Sena Freitas – 1840 – 1913 – Writer and religious orator;
• Antero de Quental – 1842-1891 – Poet and philosopher;
• Teófilo Braga – 1843 – 1924 – Politician, writer, essayist, Prime Minister and President of the Portuguese Republic;
• Luís Soares de Sousa – 1846 – 1901 - Benefactor;
• Hintze Ribeiro – 1848 -1907 - Prime Minister;
• Roberto Ivens – 1850 -1898 – Explorer in Africa;
• Aristides Moreira da Mota – 1855 – 1942 – Autonomist and politician;
• Francisco Afonso Chaves e Melo – 1857 – 1926 - Naturalist, geophysicist and meteorologist;
• Joaquim Bensaude – 1859 – 1952 – Historian;
• Duarte Maia – 1867 – 1922 – Painter;
• José Cordeiro – 1867 – 1908 – Introducer of electric energy in the Azores;
• Rodrigo Rodrigues – 1873 -1956 - Genealogist of the islands of São Miguel e Santa Maria;
• Filomeno da Câmara de Melo Cabral – 1873 – 1934 - Military in the Portuguese Armada and Conservative Politician;
• Faria e Maia – 1876 – 1959 – Writer and journalist;
• Alfredo Botelho de Sousa – 1880 – 1960 – Officer in the Portuguese Armada, politician and intelectual;
• José Bruno Tavares Carreiro – 1880 – 1957 – Journalist, writer and politician;
• Espínola de Mendonça – 1891 -1994 – Poet;
• Luís Athayde - 1883 – 1955 – Ethnographer;
• Augusto Arruda - 1888 – 1964 – Promoter of Tourism in the Azores;
• José Gomes – 1888 – 1974 -Headmaster Priest in the Nossa Senhora da Esperança sanctuary;
• Canto da Maia – 1890 -1981 - International sculptor;
• Domingos Rebelo – 1891 – 1975 – Painter;
• Manuel Barbosa – 1905 – 1991 – Writer;
• José de Vasconcelos César – 1906 – 1991 – Poet and writer;
• José Honorato Gago da Câmara de Medeiros – Visconde do Botelho – 1906 – 1979 - industrialist;
• Maria Luísa Costa Gomes – 1911 -1991 - Painter e ethnographer;
• Humberto Medeiros - 1915-1983 - Cardinal of Boston, in the USA;
• Manuel Ferreira – 1916 – 2012 – Writer, investigator e Journalist;
• José de Almeida Pavão – 1919 – 2003 – Professor, writer and essayist;
• Lopes de Araújo – 1919 – 1993 - Poet and journalist;
• Victor Câmara – 1921 – 1998 – Painter;
• Manuel Eugénio Machado Macedo – 1922 – 2000 - Physician and President of the Portuguese Medical Association;
• Natália Correia – 1923 – 1993 - Poetess;
• Carlos Wallestein – 1926 -1990 - Theater actor;
• Fernando Aires – 1928 – 2010 - Writer;
• Jacinto Soares de Albergaria – 1928 – 1981 – Poet;
• Eduino de Jesus – 1928 – Essayist, playwright and mainly a modernist poet;
• Rubens de Almeida Pavão – 1932 - Professor and investigator;
• Alexandre José Linhares Furtado – 1933 – Physician and surgeon;
• Sacuntala de Miranda – 1934 - Historian;
• Tomaz Borba Vieira – 1938 – Painter;
• Álvaro França – 1940 – Sculptor and Professor;
• Luísa Constantina – 1941 – 1990 - Sculptress;
• Carlos de Melo Bento – 1941 – Historian;
• José Maria França Machado – 1941 – Sculptor;
• Augusto de Athayde - 1942 - 2014 - Secretary of state for Culture and Sport;
• João Bosco Soares da Mota Amaral – 1943 - Politician, President of the Regional Government of the Azores, President of the Republican Assembly of Portugal;
• Carlos Carreiro – 1946 - Painter and Professor;
• Victor de Lima Meireles – 1946 - Poet, painter and genealogist;
• Jaime Gama – 1947 – Politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs and President of the Republican Assembly of Portugal;
• José Francisco Cota – Essayist and poet;
• Luís Alberto de Bettencourt – Musician and composer;
• Aníbal Raposo – Musician and composer;
• João do Rego – responsible for the Church’s Media;
• Emanuel Jorge Botelho – 1950 – Poet;
• José Medeiros – Zeca Medeiros – 1951 – Musician, composer and movie director;
• José Eduardo Moniz dos Santos – 1952 –Journalist and television personality;
• Mário Bettencourt Resendes – 1952 – 2010 – Journalist and professor;
• Pedro Resendes – Pauleta - 1973 – Internacional soccer player;
• Nuno Carvalho – International Judo athlete.