”Bristol
Phoenix”, Thursday, January 18, 2001
163th
year, No. 3 www.eastbayri.com
Life
of Healing, History Made Immortal
Library/museum
being built in his
native Portugal to honor Dr. DaSilva
By
Manny Correira, Special
features reporter
This is the front page of the "Bristol Phoenix"
Dr. Manuel Luciano DaSilva, whose medical and historical documentation have been internationally acclaimed, has been recognized in his native Portugal with a library/Museum built and named in his honor.
The library/museum has been built at the site of his birthplace in the village of Cavião, in the County of Vale de Cambra, in the District of Aveiro, 40 miles south of he city of Oporto.
”It’s just about complete”, said Dr. DaSilva, 74, who retired from his medical practice at the Bristol County Medical Center in 1998, after 35 years of service.
“When I visited Portugal with my wife this past October, the restoration of the old house and the new library were about 90 percent complete”, he said.
“The old house where I was born has been restored, but all of the old characteristics were preserved, not only on the walls, but also on its furniture, including all the other belongings. The new library is also practically finished.” The library/museum also includes a patio/garden and suite for the caretaker of the entire complex.
According to Dr. DaSilva, the library/museum will be dedicated to medical science, Portuguese discoveries, amateur historians and emigrants. He plans to ship more than 12 tons of books from Bristol either the first or second week of March.
Included is most of Dr. DaSilva’s work on a variety of subjects, “About 90 percent of my personal library is being shipped to Portugal” he said.
The library/museum project has cost $310,000 to date, and has been underwritten by a wealthy patient and patron of Dr. DaSilva’s whose life he saved. “Álvaro da Costa Leite is the grateful patient and patron”, Dr. DaSilva said.
Dr. DaSilva and his family will attend a gala official inauguration, along with many of Portugal’s top-ranking officials, on Sunday, June 10, which is also “Portugal Day”.
The new library/museum will included a replica of the face of Dighton Rock, made of fiberglass at TPI in Warren. The mold was made by Steven Tegu, and the replica was done free of charge by Edwards Medeiros and other Portuguese-Americans.
Books and writings relating to the history of Corte Real navigators also will be included in the library/museum. “It will have my original discovery of the True Antilles: Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, based in the nautical chart of 1424”, he said. It will also have my original discoveries that Columbus was 100 percent Portuguese.
“An interpretation of the navigator’s sigla: my wife’s discovery of the navigator’s monogram; our (my wife and I) discovery in the Library of the Vatican of Papal Bulls, which have the navigator’s in Portuguese Cristõfom Colon, will also be included, he said.
Also on display will be hundreds of videotapes from various TV series such as “The Portuguese Around Us”, “Tribuna Médica”, “Os Portugueses”, and “Imagens de Portugal”. In addition, hundreds of cassettes with medical programs that aired live on radio station WHTB in Fall River, and countless popular medical articles written in Portuguese-American newspapers and magazines, will be showcased.
Also included will be letters to the editor in Portuguese and English; Dr. DaSilva’s personal correspondence with Portuguese and American Authorities; thousands of color slides about Portugal, America and other countries; medical books, history books, books on cartography, geology, anthropology, human sexually, religion and photography, and several sets of encyclopedias.
Newspapers clippings, musical information (Dr. DaSilva is a noted mandolinist and violinist), books on history and culture of Açores, Madeira, Brazil and other Portuguese-speaking countries, and information about Bristol and its institutions and people, also will be on display.
Accumulated works
Dr. DaSilva’s garage and basement office at his home are a virtual historical utopia. They contain tons of books, tapes, and slides. If you are looking for anything from a Portuguese-American perspective, medical, historical, or otherwise, there’s a great chance Dr. DaSilva will have it at his fingertips.
In reference to a library/museum being named after him, Dr. DaSilva was philosophical. “I had a hunch that the things I have been doing historically should be saved for posterity”, he said. “I’m honored that a library/museum will have my name on it. I’m particularly honored because this is the first time in 500 years that a Portuguese-American is having a museum named after him. That’s quite a thing”.
After completing high school in Oliveira de Azeméis, Dr. DaSilva immigrated to Brooklyn, N. Y., with his mother and brother to join his father in January of 1946. Dr. DaSilva’s father was employed as an American ship’s captain during that time.
Dr. Da Silva worked at Westinghouse Electric International Co., as a mail boy, and then as secretary at the Portuguese General Consulate while attending school at night.
In 1948, he entered Washington Square College, New York University, graduating in 1952 with the degree in biology. That year, he returned to Portugal because of his father’s death and entered Coimbra University Medical School, where he graduated with distinction in 1957.
After one year of practice in Portugal, Dr. DaSilva returned to the United States for an internship at St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford, Mass. Then, completed a three-year specialization in internal medicine at Lahey Clinic in Boston.
Since 1963, Dr. DaSilva has been an associated member of the Bristol County Medical Center. He’s been an active staff member at Roger Williams Medical Center, one of the affiliated hospitals with the Brown University Medical School. For 21 years, he was medical director of the R. I. Veterans’ Home on Metacom Avenue. Dr. DaSilva is also medical director of the Portuguese Continental Union, the largest Portuguese-American organization on the East Coat.
Married to the former Sílvia Tavares Jorge, Dr. DaSilva has two sons, Manuel and José, and two granddaughters and one grandson.
In addition to his medical practiced, DaSilva, for more than 50 years, has been studying the history of Dighton Rock inscriptions made by Miguel Corte Real in 1511. He proposed, with original research, that the first European colony in New England was Portuguese.
Dr. DaSilva has written countless articles for the Portuguese, Brazilian and American press, including National Medical magazines. He has given more than 345 lectures at Universities colleges, and historical societies, and has appeared on many radio ad television programs educating the public on Portuguese-American history.
He has been a founding father of many Portuguese-American organizations, and has received many honors throughout his illustrious career, including the Decoration of Prince Henry the Navigator, one of Portugal’s highest honors.
In 1971, Dr. DaSilva was honored with the “Outstanding Citizen Award” by the International Institute of Providence, and in 1972, he received an honorary doctor of humanities degree from Rhode Island College for the publication of his book " Portuguese Pilgrims and Dighton Rock”
He served as president of the Bristol County Medical Society in 1974-75, and received the town of Bristol’s highest honor by being named chief marshal of the 1975 Fourth of July parade.
Heart in Bristol
Having been involved with numerous civic and cultural groups, the Bristol Rotary Club holds a special place in Dr. Da Silva’s heart.
He served as president of the Bristol Rotary Club in 1986-87, and has been active with many of the group’s charitable activities.
Over the last few years, Dr. DaSilva has received the First Distinction Honoris Causa from the Centennial Organization, Portuguese Beneficial Association Dom Luis Filipe and, in 1998, was re-elected of the Portuguese-American Health Professional Association at the fifth international convention held in Évora, Portugal.
Dr. DaSilva is a member of the New England Antiquities Research Association, Rhode Island Historical Society, Bristol Historical Society, Newport Historical Society, Aristides Mendes Society, and Portuguese Geographic Society of Lisbon, Portugal.
Dr. DaSilva holds membership with the Portuguese-American Federation, Portuguese Continental Union, Knights of Corte Reais, Prince Henry Club of Rhode Island, Dom Luis Filipe Beneficial Association, and Bristol Sports Club.
Asked why he decided to do so much out side of his medical professions, Dr. DaSilva responded, “I was so busy practicing medicine that when I came home, this was the only way I could relax. I would go to my library and do some investigating. I was really here having peace of mind. I was able to see things other investigators did not see.”
Dr. DaSilva is a scientist of medicine and historical research. He said medicine and history have gone hand-in-hand in his overall scheme of things.
"Both have been very important to me”, he said. “I’m retired as a physician now, but I still read articles on medicine. I do radio and TV programs every week. Studying medicine is fun. I am a scholar. In my own way, I created my world”. Dr. Manuel L. DaSilva is proud of his heritage, and it shows.
“Everything has a purpose”, he said. “I use my energies to accentuate the positive. I always concentrate on positive aspect of people.”
"I would like to be remembered as an immigrant, a Portuguese-American, and an American citizen who used a trinity for the philosophy of life: Love of family, love of profession (medicine), and love of social, historical and cultural activities”.
Dr. DaSilva got a bit emotional when talk reverted back to his library/museum.
“My library will be a testimonial for the friendship between the Portuguese and American people”, he said, tearfully.