Roberto Duarte Silva

Roberto Duarte da Silva (25 February 1837, Ribeira Grande, Cape Verde - 8 February 1889, Paris) was a Cape Verdean chemist.

Duarte Silva's portrait on the Cape Verdean escudo
Roberto Duarte Silva
Born(1837-02-25)25 February 1837
Ribeira Grande, Santo Antão, Portuguese Cape Verde
Died2 August 1889(1889-08-02) (aged 52)
Paris, France
NationalityFrench
Alma materUniversity of Lisbon
AwardsJecker Prize (1885)
Scientific career
FieldsChemistry

Career

Duarte Silva began at the age of 14 as an apprentice in a pharmacy. Later he came to Lisbon to work in the Farmácia Azevedo, and studied at the School of Pharmacy (Escola de Farmácia) of the University of Lisbon, there, he also received his alma mater. For some years he lived in Macau and Hong Kong, where he founded his own pharmacy.[1] He studied the compounds of amyl bases and propylamine at the laboratory of Charles Adolphe Wurtz, and achieved total synthesis of glycerine at a laboratory of Charles Friedel.

In 1863 he went to Paris, and taught analytical chemistry at the École des Mines de Paris (now the Mines ParisTech), the Ecole Centrale des Arts et Manufactures (now the École Centrale Paris), and the École supérieure de physique et de Chimie industrial de la ville de Paris from 1882 until his death. Through these years he taught and was active in research, especially in the field of organic chemistry.[1][2]

Duarte Silva was presented with the Jecker Prize (Prix Jecker) by the French Academy of Sciences in 1885. In 1887 he became president of the Société Chimique de France. Among his students was chemist Charles Lepierre, who settled in 1888 at his suggestion in Portugal.[3] A street is named in his honor in São Domingos de Benfica, in Lisbon.[4]

Legacy

Since 2007, he is featured on a Cape Verdean $500 escudos banknote.

A plaque is commemorated at his former house in Ribeira Grande. The plaque reads in Portuguese, it is translated into English as "Here Roberto Duarte Silva was born, notable Cape Verdean chemist, 1837-1889".

References
  1. http://www.asemana.publ.cv/spip.php?article73551 (in Portuguese)
  2. Fell, Ulrike (2000). Profession und Nation. Die Ideologie der Chemie in Frankreich vom Zweiten Kaiserreich bis in die Zwischenkriegszeit (= Deutsch-Französische Kulturbibliothek. Bd. 14). University of Leipzig Publishers. ISBN 3-933240-91-3.. Also a dissertation, University of Regensburg, 1998, p. 6
  3. "Superior Technical Institute - Department of Chemical Engineering" (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 2009-04-04.
  4. Memórias da Academia das Ciēncias de Lisboa: Classe de Ciēncias (continuação das colecçǒes de trabalhos que interessam à primeira classe) (in Portuguese). Vol. 1. Lisbon Academy of Sciences: Class of Sciences. 1937.

Further reading
  • Laurence Lestel (dir.), "Roberto Duarte Silva", in Itinéraires de chimistes: 1857-2007, 150 ans de chimie en France avec les présidents de la SFC, EDP Sciences, Les Ulis ; SFC, Paris, 2008, p. 495-499 ISBN 978-2-86883-915-2
  • Charles Lepierre: Centenário de Roberto Duarte Silva. Homenagem prestada ao mestre. In: Revista de chimica pura e applicada (Centenary of Roberto Duarte Silva), 3. vol., issue 12, 1937, no. 3/4, p. 97–107 (not evaliated)
  • Carlos Perreira Roberto Duarte Silva: um notável da ciência, 82nd Edition (in Portuguese)
  • Sabrina Requedaz Cap-Vert: Loin des yeŭ du monde
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