Piraja da Silva

Pirajá da Silva was a Brazilian naturalist, physician and researcher who was born in Camamu, Bahia, in 1873. He studied medicine at the Bahia School of Medicine, graduating in 1896. He then worked as a physician and professor in various cities. He also devoted himself to scientific exploration, especially in the field of parasitology. He founded the Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi in Belém, where he collected and studied specimens of fauna, flora, and minerals. He also conducted archaeological investigations in the coastal and riverine areas of Pará, where he discovered and excavated several shell mounds, or sambaquis, that contained human and animal bones, pottery, and stone tools. He was the first to recognize that these sites were ancient settlements of fishing people, dating back to the early Holocene. He published many scientific papers and reports on his findings, and shared his knowledge with other scholars, such as Paul Gerson Unna, Oswaldo Cruz, and Louis Agassiz. He was one of the founders and presidents of the Sociedade Brasileira para o Progresso da Ciência (SBPC), an organization that promotes scientific research and education in Brazil. He received many awards and honors for his contributions to science and society, such as the Order of Scientific Merit from the Brazilian government in 1971, and the Kalinga Prize from UNESCO in 1979. He died of natural causes in Salvador, Bahia, in 1961, at the age of 88. He is regarded as one of the pioneers of parasitology and schistosomiasis research in Brazil. ¹