The assistance of the Portuguese Colony of Brazil, 1918-1973

Abstract

This article seeks to redeem the historical memory of a health institution in Portugal which reconfigured itself and adapted to the social and medical needs and concerns during the twentieth century. The trajectory of this institution contributes to the history of Portuguese medicine and to the history of the philanthropy of the Portuguese colony resident in Brazil and the so called "Brazilians" that returned to Portugal, whose remittances provided the means to set up a benchmark health institution in the twenty-first century. The methodology was based on archival research in Portugal (Coimbra, Bissaya Barreto Foundation) and in Brazil (Rio de Janeiro, Real Gabinete Português de Leitura) and the cross-checking of these primary sources with due historical and social contextualization.