António de Araújo e Azevedo, 1st Count of Barca

D. António de Araújo e Azevedo, 1st Count of Barca (14 May 1754 – 21 July 1817) was a Portuguese statesman, author and amateur botanist.

Career 
After cooperating in the establishment of the Academy of Sciences in Lisbon, he represented his government in Holland, France, Prussia, and Russia.

He was first minister of John VI of Portugal, whom he followed when the Portuguese Court was transferred to the colony of Brazil in 1807. There he was minister of the navy and foreign minister, and took great interest in promoting education and industry, having established the manufacture of porcelain in Rio de Janeiro.

Works 
He conducted scientific studies and experiments in his own palace and private botanical garden, as well as the first trials for the acclimatization and culture of the tea-plant in Brazil. Later in life, he was the founder of Brazil's first school of fine arts.

As an author, his works include two tragedies and a translation of Virgil's pastorals.

References 
 
 

Category:1754 births
Category:1817 deaths
Category:Ambassadors of Portugal to the Netherlands
Category:Ambassadors of Portugal to France
Category:Ambassadors of Portugal to Prussia
Category:Ambassadors of Portugal to Russia
Category:Portuguese male writers
Category:Portuguese botanists
Category:Government ministers of Portugal
Category:People from Ponte de Lima
Category:18th-century Portuguese people
Category:19th-century Portuguese writers
Category:Counts of Barca