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Celebrating 200 years...
Arrival of the Portuguese royal family in Brazil and the opening of Faculdade de Medicina da Bahia
Faculdade de Medicina da Bahia (FAMEB), founded in 1808, celebrates its 200 years in 2008. Located in Largo do Terreiro de Jesus, in the historical center of Salvador, it is the countrys first medical school and was created during D. João VI and the royal familys stay in the city.
As a colony of Portugal, during more than 300 years Brazil had no permission to provide higher education. Just on February 18th, 1808, with the creation of the first medical school (Escola de Cirurgia da Bahia) of the country, in Salvador, the prince regent D. João VI lift the educational blockade that obstructed Brazilian development.
The celebration mixes with the arrival of the Portuguese royal family in Brazil, whose events join the birthday of the first medical teaching institution in the country in the launch of the commemorative stamp by the Brazilian postal service.
Teaching, science, and culture began to flourish in the Portuguese tropical empire with the surgical medical school of Bahia. During these 200 years, FAMEB was the first in the country to stimulate the development of medical art. The participation of its workers, students and teachers in important historical moments to Brazil originated, still in the 19th century, the first academic leagues and the first associative groups of the student movement, which truly propelled clashes for the end of slavery and the defense of republican ideals.
The pioneer vocation of FAMEB also revealed itself in the fight for female vote: doctor Francisca Praguer Froes, in the 1930s, commanded that fight, and she was also one of the first Brazilian women to publish articles in specialized magazines. The institution had affirmed its pioneering role when granting the diploma, in 1887, to the first graduated female physician in the country, doctor Rita Lobato Velho Lopes.
Upon the basis created by FAMEB Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA) was structured. It was founded in 1946, and had as first chancellor one of the directors of the first institution of medical teaching in the country, professor Edgard Rego Santos.
Publication Dates
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Publication in this collection
15 May 2008 -
Date of issue
Feb 2008
