Emilio Joaquim da Silva Maia
Emilio Joaquim da Silva Maia (8 September 1808 – 21 November 1859) was a Brazilian physician and naturalist who founded the Vellosiana Society which ran the first journal in the region that carried notes on natural history, "O Guanabara". He was also one of the founders of the Instituto Histórico e Geográfico Brasileiro.

Silva Maia was born in Salvador, son of Joaquim José da Silva Maia a Portuguese trader and Knight of the Order of Christ. The Brazilian struggle for independence led the family to move to Porto and Silva Maia received a bachelor's degree from the University of Coimbra in January 1824. Even before the Liberal Wars he fought alongside the constitutionalists against the absolutists and he was forced to flee when the constitution was revoked and returned to Brazil in 1829. He soon returned to Europe to the University of Paris to study medicine and received a degree in 1833 with a dissertation titled "Essai sur les dangers de l'allaitement par les nourrices". In 1834 he became a member of the Academy of Medicine in Rio de Janeiro and was a full professor in the Colégio Pedro II. He became director of comparative anatomy and zoology at the National Museum in 1842. He also edited the "Minerva Brasiliense" periodical. He helped reorganize the museum. He played a major role in fighting deforestation in Rio de Janeiro and saw the value of mangroves. He corresponded with Geoffroy and Isidore Saint-Hilaire on matters of natural history. The hummingbird species "Polytmus theresiae" was described and named by Silva Maria in an article in the "Minerva Brasiliense". He named the species after the Empress of Portugal. He also edited a journal called "O Guanabara" from 1849 to 1850 which was an eclectic mix of literary pieces and scientific essays. The journal ran into trouble after a yellow fever outbreak. Influenced by Georges Cuvier, under whom he had studied, he sought to explain biogeographic patterns based on initial Creation followed by dispersal of organisms within limits set by the habitats of species. He also accepted the view that cataclysmic events had caused many species to go extinct. He accepted Humboldt's idea that there were more species in the tropics. He also recognized the endemism of groups such as hummingbirds and tried to explain it in terms of species creation in multiple geographic centres, recognizing 14 of them based on the work of De Candolle and Karl Willdenow. Silva Maria did not read many English language works and died a few days before the publication of Darwin's "Origin of Species".

Silva Maia died just in 1859 and was buried at Sao Francisco de Paula cemetery.
Q36947
Salvador
LOC
Q36433
Porto
LOC
Q368643
University of Coimbra
ORG
Q1237867
Liberal Wars
EVE
Q209842
University of Paris
ORG
Q8678
Rio de Janeiro
LOC
Q1113098
Colégio Pedro II
ORG
Q192428
Geoffroy
PER
Q521190
Isidore Saint-Hilaire
PER
Q1259380
Polytmus theresiae
Concept
Q209353
Empress of Portugal
PER
Q171969
Georges Cuvier
PER
Q130352
Creation
Concept
Q6694
Humboldt
PER
Q123057
De Candolle
PER
Q76353
Karl Willdenow
PER
Q5399919
Emilio Joaquim da Silva Maia
PER
1808-09-08T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
8 September 1808
DATE
1859-11-21T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
21 November 1859
DATE
1824-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
January 1824
DATE
1829-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1829
DATE
1833-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1833
DATE
1834-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1834
DATE
1842-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1842
DATE
1849-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1849
DATE
1850-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1850
DATE
1859-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1859
DATE
+14^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
14
NUMBER
date of birth
date of death
place of birth
place of death
located in the administrative territorial entity
child