2017Figures in Portuguese History and Culture - Set

The Jesuit priest, Manuel da Nóbrega, was born 500 years ago in San ns do Douro in Minho, Portugal. He studied canon law at the universities of Salamanca and Coimbra and joined the Society of Jesus. In 1549, King John III commissioned him to head the rst Jesuit mission to Brazil. There he dedicated himself to the conversion and education of the natives, of whose freedom he was a staunch defender. He founded the village of Piratininga which eventually became the city of São Paulo. He died in Rio de Janeiro. Francisco de Holanda, another prominent Portuguese figure of the 16th century Renaissance, was born in Lisbon, where he lived until he was 67. He was a painter, draughtsman, sculptor, historian, art critic, architect, philosopher and essayist. At the age of 20, also at the behest of King John III, he travelled to Rome as a scholar and met the master Michelangelo. He wrote on various subjects, authoring the rst essay on town-planning in the Iberian Peninsula.