Sebastião de Vasconcellos Galvão was born in the municipality of Limoeiro, Pernambuco, on June 28, 1865, the son of Francisco Olegário de Vasconcellos Galvão and Maria Leopoldina de Castro Galvão.
As he intended to pursue a medical career, he enrolled at the Faculdade de Medicina da Bahia. The death of his father, however, forced him to return to Pernambuco, where he took a Legal and Social Sciences course at the Faculdade de Direito do Recife, graduating in 1889.
That same year, he married Francisca Vilarim de Vasconcelos Galvão, with whom he had seven children: Mario, Roderick, Claribalte, Diva, Graziella, Célia, and Dolores.
He showed talent for literature from an early age. He collaborated with the periodicals O Século e A Província in Recife in 1883, and with the Sorriso, from Paraíba, in 1886.
He also published several poems in the Almanack de Lembranças Luso-Brasileira (Almanack of Luso-Brazilian Souvenirs), such as Annos depois, and Americana (1887); The companion of childhood (1888); and Resorts (1889).
He held several positions in the Recife City Hall, including Chief Officer, Teaching Superintendent, and General Director of Public Instruction, a position he held until 1907, when he retired.
He was a distinguished member of the Instituto Arqueológico, Histórico e Geográfico Pernambucano (the Pernambuco Archaeological, Historical and Geographical Institute), in which he was also First Secretary. He was one of the founders of the Academia Pernambucana de Letras (Pernambuco Academy of Letters), a full member of the Brazilian Historical and Geographic Institute, and a correspondent for Historical Institutes in the states of São Paulo, Alagoas, Bahia, Ceará, Paraíba, and Rio Grande do Norte.
He also belonged to the Sociedade de Geografia do Rio de Janeiro (Geography Society of Rio de Janeiro); to the Social and Political Academy of Philadelphia; the Columby Society of Jurisprudence, and the Liceu de Artes e Ofícios de Pernambuco (Lyceum of Arts and Crafts of Pernambuco).
He was an honorary doctor at the University of Montevideo in Uruguay.
His main work, the Dicionário corográfico, histórico e estatístico de Pernambuco (Corographic, historical, and statistical dictionary of Pernambuco), was published in four volumes by the Imprensa Nacional do Rio de Janeiro between 1908 and 1927.
He also authored several articles published in the Instituto Arqueológico, Histórico e Geográfico Pernambucano journal, including Geografia pernambucana: município do Recife (Pernambucan Geography: the municipality of Recife) (1898) ; Geografia pernambucana: município de Goiana (Pernambucan Geography: the municipality of Goiana) (1898); Geografia pernambucana: município de Limoeiro (Pernambucan Geography: the municipality of Limeiro) (1900); O Recife cidade e capital (Recife city and capital) (1901); Lições de história (History lessons) (1910); Joaquim Nabuco (1913); Crônica histórica da cidade do Recife, 1849-1915 (Historical Chronicle of the city of Recife, 1849-1915) (1916); Sesmarias (1918).
In 1928, Sebastião Galvão died in Recife, at his residence, on Nunes Machado Street, no 447.
Recife, January 3rd 2012.
sources consulted
GALVÃO, Sebastião de Vasconcellos. Diccionario chorographico, histórico e geographico de Pernambuco. Rio de Janeiro: Imprensa Nacional, 1927. p. 443-444.
O INÍCIO do século XX: um tempo de crises. Available at: http://www.institutoarqueologico.com.br/historico/crise.php. Accessed: 30 jan. 2012.
PÁGINA de saudade: Sebastião Galvão. Revista do Instituto Archeológico, Histórico e Geographico Pernambucano, Recife, v. 29, n. 135-142, p. 344-346, 1928-1929.
SEBASTIÃO de Vasconcellos Galvão. Almanach de Pernambuco, Recife, ano 9, [s.p.], 1907.
how to quote this text
GASPAR, Lúcia. Sebastião Galvão. In: PESQUISA Escolar. Recife: Fundação Joaquim Nabuco, 2012. Available at: https://pesquisaescolar.fundaj.gov.br/en/artigo/sebastiao-galvao/. Accessed on: month day year. (Ex.: Aug. 6 2009.)