Francisco Luís Gomes
Encyclopedia
Francisco Luís Gomes was an Indo
-Portuguese
physician, writer, historian, economist, political scientist
and MP
in the Portuguese parliament. A liberal
by political orientation, Gomes represented Portuguese India
in the Cortes Gerais from 1861 to 1869. His outstanding contributions towards the fields of liberal philosophy and economics
led him to be widely hailed as "The Prince of Intellectuals" in Europe
.
village in Salcette
, the son of a Goan Catholic
Chardo
couple, Francisco Salvador Gomes and Deodata Furtado. His father was a physician and civic leader. Gomes spent his early years in Navelim and during this period, displayed a flair for languages. He was a polyglot
; highly proficient in the use of Konkani, Portuguese
and French
, and additionally possessed a good understanding of English
, Italian
, Spanish
, Latin
and Marathi
. At the age of 21, he completed his medical course at the Escola Médico–Cirúrgica de Goa
in Panjim. He was soon appointed professor of the institution in view of his academic merits, and also granted a commission in the Portuguese army
. Gomes eventually rose to become the institution's Chief Surgeon in 1860.
. He was elected to the parliament in 1861 and took a seat with Partido Regenador
(Renewing Party), a liberal party. His first speech in parliament made him renowned as a great orator and parliamentarian. Gomes represented Portuguese India
until his death in 1869. He was thrice offered a seat in the Cabinet as a Minister, but declined as he found it to be incompatible with his independent views.
Francisco Luís Gomes fought against slavery and defended the cause of the Padroado
. He strove for for the creation of a society based on the principles of liberty
, equality
and fraternity
, and campaigned against socio-economic injustices committed on the colonised peoples across the Portuguese Empire
. He campaigned to ameliorate the conditions of his constituents and his efforts towards this end succeeded in placing colonial public servants on equal standing as public servants in Portugal
. Gomes laid down the principles of a Goan budget and expunged it of several illegal items of expenditure.
A second work on the agricultural and rural economy of Goa
A liberdade da terra e a economia rural da India portugueza (The freedom of the land and the rural economy of Portuguese India) was published in Portuguese the following year. This work is generally considered to be his magnum opus
. In it, Gomes discussed the impact of Portuguese colonial policy on Goan agriculture, as well as the various handicaps of the native agriculturist. He advocated colonial autonomy and a uniform system of colonial administration throughout the Portuguese Empire and suggests a scheme of economic and financial reforms, such as the establishment of Credit societies
, which would save the country from economic stagnation
. He argued that the comunidade
s were no longer suited to the exigencies of the time and instead called for the liberation of the lands under their control, and its replacement by individual ownership of the tenant. He also advocated the sale of all public lands, as well as those that belonged to religious institutions.
A third work published in French in 1867, Essai sur la théorie de l'économie politique et de ses rapports avec la morale et le droit (Essay on the theory of political economy and its relationship with morality and the law) was widely praised by European economists. It is generally recognised as one of the most important in the history of Portuguese economic thought recognised by eminent European societies such as Societe d'Economie Politique of Paris
, Society of Medical Sciences of Lisbon
and the Economic Society of Cadiz
.
In 1866, Gomes wrote his famous historical novel Os Brâmanes (The Brahmins), which focused on the practise of caste-based discrimination in India
, particularly of untouchability among the Hindus. The novel has a purely Indian background and was inspired by the French playwright Victor Hugo
. Its theme is centered on the love of liberty, justice and concern for the downtrodden, and focuses on the life of the Anglo-Indian
community in the Faizabad district
and its relationship with the native inhabitants. It vividly portrays the traditional festivities in Cawnpore, and discusses the causes and effects of the Indian Rebellion of 1857
in great detail. In it, Gomes also alluded to the anti-colonial uprisings by the Ranes in Goa in the statement: "Impartial men who are moved by justice and not by racialism want India to be ruled by Indians". He also criticised the European nations for their perceived lack of adherence to Christian
values.
Gomes' other notable works included a biography written in Portuguese of the brigadiers Henrique Carlos Henriques and Joaquim Xavier Henriques, and in French of Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Marquess of Pombal (1869). He cherished his mother-tongue, Konkani, and made significant contributions towards a revised edition of Arte da Lingoa Canarim (Art of the Canarim language), the Konkani grammar by the 16th century English Jesuit
, Fr. Thomas Stephens
. He also wrote an unpublished Konkani grammar dedicated to the Portuguese civil servant and Konkani revivalist Joaquim Heliodoró da Cunha Rivara.
who cherished the concept of liberty
. He was a devout Roman Catholic who judged the world according to the ethical standards of his faith, tracing his philosophy of equality to Jesus Christ. Gomes took great pride in his Indian ancestry and advocated the right of Swaraj
or self-governance for Indians. On the Indian Rebellion of 1857
, he famously stated in Os Brâmanes:
Gomes was a staunch Indian nationalist
, and contrarily to his Hindu counterparts within Goa and the Indian mainland, based his nationalism within the framework of his Christian religious beliefs and his faith in the superiority of Western culture
. He believed the main instruments of civilization to be two, namely Christianity and education. He was appalled by the perceived "social evils" he found to be prevalent in Hindu society, and saw European civilization as a panacea for them. While Gomes bemoaned the loss of India's ancient cultural heritage, he believed that the only chance left for the Indian people to have a civilization of their own laid on colonial rule. At the same time, however, he decried attempts by the Western colonial powers to use their dominant status for the purpose of exploiting, rather than guiding and educating their subjects. Gomes further believed that the European colonial powers should eventually leave and entrust the governance of India to its people, once the period of "tutelage" was over.
Gomes envisioned the building of an invincible nation with both Christian and liberal values of an "enlightened" Europe. He believed that the cause of India's subjugation by European colonial powers laid on India being ridden with rivalries of different dynasties, caste hatred and religious antagonisms. He further believed that with only one religion, only one dynasty, only one caste, India would have been invincible. To this end, he suggested that the British
emulate in India the Portuguese
example of christianising Goa in the 16th century, with the exception of resorting to force.
, the Society of Economists of Paris appointed him as an Associate Member, a rare honour which he shared with four other eminent personages, namely, William Ewart Gladstone
, Mungueti, John Stuart Mill
and Richard Cobden
. Upon his visit to France
on the occasion of the Universal Exhibition
held in Paris
in 1867, the elite among the French economists and philosophers paid a public tribute to Gomes for his contributions to the study of political economy. The French monarch Napoleon III received him in a special audience and felicitated him for his achievements.
Among other honours, Gomes was appointed Member of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bombay, Member of the Society of Medical Sciences of Lisbon
, Member of the Society of Political Economy of Cadiz
, Member of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Lisbon, and was awarded the Doctorate of Social and Political Sciences of the Catholic University of Leuven
in Belgium
. His loyalty to the Portuguese Empire coupled with his love and enthusiasm for the Portuguese language and culture resulted in him being honoured with the knighthood of the Ordem Militar de Nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo
by the Portuguese government.
, he died on board the ship on 30 September, aged 40. The eminent Portuguese writer, Júlio Dantas
commented about Gomes' legacy:
Indian people
Indian people or Indisians constitute the Asian nation and pan-ethnic group native to India, which forms the south of Asia, containing 17.31% of the world's population. The Indian nationality is in essence made up of regional nationalities, reflecting the rich and complex history of India...
-Portuguese
Portuguese people
The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
physician, writer, historian, economist, political scientist
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
and MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
in the Portuguese parliament. A liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
by political orientation, Gomes represented Portuguese India
Portuguese India
The Portuguese Viceroyalty of India , later the Portuguese State of India , was the aggregate of Portugal's colonial holdings in India.The government started in 1505, six years after the discovery of a sea route to India by Vasco da Gama, with the nomination of the first Viceroy Francisco de...
in the Cortes Gerais from 1861 to 1869. His outstanding contributions towards the fields of liberal philosophy and economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
led him to be widely hailed as "The Prince of Intellectuals" in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
Early life
Francisco Luís Gomes was born on 31 May 1829 in the Colmoroddo vaddo (deanery of a parish) of NavelimNavelim
Navelim is a census town in South Goa district in the Indian state of Goa. It is located outside the city of Margao.-Geography:Navelim is located at...
village in Salcette
Salcette
Salcette , is a taluka of South Goa District in the Indian state of Goa. Its administrative and economic headquarters is Margao. It is largely coterminous with a region called Sashti , which comprised, by local tradition, sixty-six villages, hence the name. However, it also includes the taluka of...
, the son of a Goan Catholic
Goan Catholics
The Goan Catholics are an ethno-religious community of Roman Catholics and their descendants from the state of Goa, located on the west coast of India. They are Konkani people and speak the Konkani language...
Chardo
Roman Catholic Kshatriya
The Roman Catholic Kshatriya is a caste among the Goan and Mangalorean Catholics, of modern-day descendants of Goan Kshatriya and a few Vaishya converts to Roman Catholicism. They are respectively known as Chardo in the Goan Catholic dialects of Konkani The Roman Catholic Kshatriya is a caste among...
couple, Francisco Salvador Gomes and Deodata Furtado. His father was a physician and civic leader. Gomes spent his early years in Navelim and during this period, displayed a flair for languages. He was a polyglot
Polyglot (person)
A polyglot is someone with a high degree of proficiency in several languages. A bilingual person can speak two languages fluently, whereas a trilingual three; above that the term multilingual may be used.-Hyperpolyglot:...
; highly proficient in the use of Konkani, Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, and additionally possessed a good understanding of English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
and Marathi
Marathi language
Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...
. At the age of 21, he completed his medical course at the Escola Médico–Cirúrgica de Goa
Goa Medical College
Goa Medical College is a medical college and hospital in Goa, India. It was built by the Portuguese in 1842 as the Escola Médico-Cirúrgica de Goa . It is the oldest Medical College in Asia...
in Panjim. He was soon appointed professor of the institution in view of his academic merits, and also granted a commission in the Portuguese army
Portuguese Army
The Portuguese Army is the ground branch of the Portuguese Armed Forces which, in co-operation with other branches of the Portuguese military, is charged with the defence of Portugal...
. Gomes eventually rose to become the institution's Chief Surgeon in 1860.
Member of Parliament (1861–1869)
Gomes saw it as his life's mission to advance the cause of freedom, truth and justice, and thus followed in his father's footsteps by taking part in civic affairs. In 1860, he stood for election in the Portuguese parliament Cortes Gerais from the constituency of MargaoMargao
Margao and commercial capital of the Indian state of Goa. It is the administrative headquarters of South Goa district and of the Salcete taluka.- Etymology :...
. He was elected to the parliament in 1861 and took a seat with Partido Regenador
Cartista
In the history of Portugal, a Cartista was a member of the party that led Portugal over to a more conservative form of the liberalism that had arisen after the revolution of 1820, centered around the Constitutional Charter of 1826, granted by Pedro IV in an attempt to reduce the conflicts opened up...
(Renewing Party), a liberal party. His first speech in parliament made him renowned as a great orator and parliamentarian. Gomes represented Portuguese India
Portuguese India
The Portuguese Viceroyalty of India , later the Portuguese State of India , was the aggregate of Portugal's colonial holdings in India.The government started in 1505, six years after the discovery of a sea route to India by Vasco da Gama, with the nomination of the first Viceroy Francisco de...
until his death in 1869. He was thrice offered a seat in the Cabinet as a Minister, but declined as he found it to be incompatible with his independent views.
Francisco Luís Gomes fought against slavery and defended the cause of the Padroado
Padroado
The Padroado , was an arrangement between the Holy See and the kingdom of Portugal, affirmed by a series of treaties, by which the Vatican delegated to the kings of Spain and Portugal the administration of the local Churches...
. He strove for for the creation of a society based on the principles of liberty
Liberty
Liberty is a moral and political principle, or Right, that identifies the condition in which human beings are able to govern themselves, to behave according to their own free will, and take responsibility for their actions...
, equality
Equality before the law
Equality before the law or equality under the law or legal egalitarianism is the principle under which each individual is subject to the same laws....
and fraternity
Fraternity
A fraternity is a brotherhood, though the term usually connotes a distinct or formal organization. An organization referred to as a fraternity may be a:*Secret society*Chivalric order*Benefit society*Friendly society*Social club*Trade union...
, and campaigned against socio-economic injustices committed on the colonised peoples across the Portuguese Empire
Portuguese Empire
The Portuguese Empire , also known as the Portuguese Overseas Empire or the Portuguese Colonial Empire , was the first global empire in history...
. He campaigned to ameliorate the conditions of his constituents and his efforts towards this end succeeded in placing colonial public servants on equal standing as public servants in Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. Gomes laid down the principles of a Goan budget and expunged it of several illegal items of expenditure.
Works
Gomes became internationally renowned as an eminent economist and political scientist due to his principal works which were published while he was incumbent in the Cortes Gerais. His view was that economics was inseparable from politics, and as such, he devoted a large part of his life to its study. In 1861, Gomes wrote his first work; a 34 page treatise on the subject in French entitled "De la question du cotton en Angleterre et dans les possessions portugaises d' Afrique Occidentale" (The issue of cotton in England and the Portuguese possessions of West Africa). This work earned him recognition in Europe as an eminent economist.A second work on the agricultural and rural economy of Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
A liberdade da terra e a economia rural da India portugueza (The freedom of the land and the rural economy of Portuguese India) was published in Portuguese the following year. This work is generally considered to be his magnum opus
Magnum opus
Magnum opus , from the Latin meaning "great work", refers to the largest, and perhaps the best, greatest, most popular, or most renowned achievement of a writer, artist, or composer.-Related terms:Sometimes the term magnum opus is used to refer to simply "a great work" rather than "the...
. In it, Gomes discussed the impact of Portuguese colonial policy on Goan agriculture, as well as the various handicaps of the native agriculturist. He advocated colonial autonomy and a uniform system of colonial administration throughout the Portuguese Empire and suggests a scheme of economic and financial reforms, such as the establishment of Credit societies
Credit union
A credit union is a cooperative financial institution that is owned and controlled by its members and operated for the purpose of promoting thrift, providing credit at competitive rates, and providing other financial services to its members...
, which would save the country from economic stagnation
Economic stagnation
Economic stagnation or economic immobilism, often called simply stagnation or immobilism, is a prolonged period of slow economic growth , usually accompanied by high unemployment. Under some definitions, "slow" means significantly slower than potential growth as estimated by experts in macroeconomics...
. He argued that the comunidade
Comunidade
The Comunidades of Goa are a unique and age-old collective land-ownership pattern that has been predominating in the state of Goa, India.-Codified by the Portuguese:...
s were no longer suited to the exigencies of the time and instead called for the liberation of the lands under their control, and its replacement by individual ownership of the tenant. He also advocated the sale of all public lands, as well as those that belonged to religious institutions.
A third work published in French in 1867, Essai sur la théorie de l'économie politique et de ses rapports avec la morale et le droit (Essay on the theory of political economy and its relationship with morality and the law) was widely praised by European economists. It is generally recognised as one of the most important in the history of Portuguese economic thought recognised by eminent European societies such as Societe d'Economie Politique of Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Society of Medical Sciences of Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
and the Economic Society of Cadiz
Cádiz
Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....
.
In 1866, Gomes wrote his famous historical novel Os Brâmanes (The Brahmins), which focused on the practise of caste-based discrimination in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, particularly of untouchability among the Hindus. The novel has a purely Indian background and was inspired by the French playwright Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
. Its theme is centered on the love of liberty, justice and concern for the downtrodden, and focuses on the life of the Anglo-Indian
Anglo-Indian
Anglo-Indians are people who have mixed Indian and British ancestry, or people of British descent born or living in India, now mainly historical in the latter sense. British residents in India used the term "Eurasians" for people of mixed European and Indian descent...
community in the Faizabad district
Faizabad District
See also: Faizabad Faizabad district is one of the 71 districts of Uttar Pradesh state in northern India. Faizabad city is the administrative headquarters of this district. The district occupies an area of 2,764 km²...
and its relationship with the native inhabitants. It vividly portrays the traditional festivities in Cawnpore, and discusses the causes and effects of the Indian Rebellion of 1857
Indian Rebellion of 1857
The Indian Rebellion of 1857 began as a mutiny of sepoys of the British East India Company's army on 10 May 1857, in the town of Meerut, and soon escalated into other mutinies and civilian rebellions largely in the upper Gangetic plain and central India, with the major hostilities confined to...
in great detail. In it, Gomes also alluded to the anti-colonial uprisings by the Ranes in Goa in the statement: "Impartial men who are moved by justice and not by racialism want India to be ruled by Indians". He also criticised the European nations for their perceived lack of adherence to Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
values.
Gomes' other notable works included a biography written in Portuguese of the brigadiers Henrique Carlos Henriques and Joaquim Xavier Henriques, and in French of Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Marquess of Pombal (1869). He cherished his mother-tongue, Konkani, and made significant contributions towards a revised edition of Arte da Lingoa Canarim (Art of the Canarim language), the Konkani grammar by the 16th century English Jesuit
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
, Fr. Thomas Stephens
Thomas Stephens (Jesuit)
Thomas Stephens was a Jesuit priest missionary in Portuguese India, writer and linguist.- Early years and studies :...
. He also wrote an unpublished Konkani grammar dedicated to the Portuguese civil servant and Konkani revivalist Joaquim Heliodoró da Cunha Rivara.
Political views
Gomes was a RomanticistRomanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
who cherished the concept of liberty
Liberty
Liberty is a moral and political principle, or Right, that identifies the condition in which human beings are able to govern themselves, to behave according to their own free will, and take responsibility for their actions...
. He was a devout Roman Catholic who judged the world according to the ethical standards of his faith, tracing his philosophy of equality to Jesus Christ. Gomes took great pride in his Indian ancestry and advocated the right of Swaraj
Swaraj
Swaraj can mean generally self-governance or "self-rule", and was used synonymously with "home-rule" by Gandhi but the word usually refers to Gandhi's concept for Indian independence from foreign domination. Swaraj lays stress on governance not by a hierarchical government, but self governance...
or self-governance for Indians. On the Indian Rebellion of 1857
Indian Rebellion of 1857
The Indian Rebellion of 1857 began as a mutiny of sepoys of the British East India Company's army on 10 May 1857, in the town of Meerut, and soon escalated into other mutinies and civilian rebellions largely in the upper Gangetic plain and central India, with the major hostilities confined to...
, he famously stated in Os Brâmanes:
Gomes was a staunch Indian nationalist
Indian nationalism
Indian nationalism refers to the many underlying forces that molded the Indian independence movement, and strongly continue to influence the politics of India, as well as being the heart of many contrasting ideologies that have caused ethnic and religious conflict in Indian society...
, and contrarily to his Hindu counterparts within Goa and the Indian mainland, based his nationalism within the framework of his Christian religious beliefs and his faith in the superiority of Western culture
Western culture
Western culture, sometimes equated with Western civilization or European civilization, refers to cultures of European origin and is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and...
. He believed the main instruments of civilization to be two, namely Christianity and education. He was appalled by the perceived "social evils" he found to be prevalent in Hindu society, and saw European civilization as a panacea for them. While Gomes bemoaned the loss of India's ancient cultural heritage, he believed that the only chance left for the Indian people to have a civilization of their own laid on colonial rule. At the same time, however, he decried attempts by the Western colonial powers to use their dominant status for the purpose of exploiting, rather than guiding and educating their subjects. Gomes further believed that the European colonial powers should eventually leave and entrust the governance of India to its people, once the period of "tutelage" was over.
Gomes envisioned the building of an invincible nation with both Christian and liberal values of an "enlightened" Europe. He believed that the cause of India's subjugation by European colonial powers laid on India being ridden with rivalries of different dynasties, caste hatred and religious antagonisms. He further believed that with only one religion, only one dynasty, only one caste, India would have been invincible. To this end, he suggested that the British
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
emulate in India the Portuguese
Portuguese Empire
The Portuguese Empire , also known as the Portuguese Overseas Empire or the Portuguese Colonial Empire , was the first global empire in history...
example of christianising Goa in the 16th century, with the exception of resorting to force.
Honours
Gomes was the recipient of numerous honours, in view of his significant contributions in the fields of literature, history, economy and political science. Due to his significant contributions towards the study of political economyPolitical economy
Political economy originally was the term for studying production, buying, and selling, and their relations with law, custom, and government, as well as with the distribution of national income and wealth, including through the budget process. Political economy originated in moral philosophy...
, the Society of Economists of Paris appointed him as an Associate Member, a rare honour which he shared with four other eminent personages, namely, William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...
, Mungueti, John Stuart Mill
John Stuart Mill
John Stuart Mill was a British philosopher, economist and civil servant. An influential contributor to social theory, political theory, and political economy, his conception of liberty justified the freedom of the individual in opposition to unlimited state control. He was a proponent of...
and Richard Cobden
Richard Cobden
Richard Cobden was a British manufacturer and Radical and Liberal statesman, associated with John Bright in the formation of the Anti-Corn Law League as well as with the Cobden-Chevalier Treaty...
. Upon his visit to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
on the occasion of the Universal Exhibition
World's Fair
World's fair, World fair, Universal Exposition, and World Expo are various large public exhibitions held in different parts of the world. The first Expo was held in The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London, United Kingdom, in 1851, under the title "Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All...
held in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 1867, the elite among the French economists and philosophers paid a public tribute to Gomes for his contributions to the study of political economy. The French monarch Napoleon III received him in a special audience and felicitated him for his achievements.
Among other honours, Gomes was appointed Member of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bombay, Member of the Society of Medical Sciences of Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, Member of the Society of Political Economy of Cadiz
Cádiz
Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....
, Member of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Lisbon, and was awarded the Doctorate of Social and Political Sciences of the Catholic University of Leuven
Catholic University of Leuven
The Catholic University of Leuven, or of Louvain, was the largest, oldest and most prominent university in Belgium. The university was founded in 1425 as the University of Leuven by John IV, Duke of Brabant and approved by a Papal bull by Pope Martin V.During France's occupation of Belgium in the...
in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. His loyalty to the Portuguese Empire coupled with his love and enthusiasm for the Portuguese language and culture resulted in him being honoured with the knighthood of the Ordem Militar de Nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo
Order of Christ (Portugal)
The Military Order of Christ previously the Royal Order of the Knights of Our Lord Jesus Christ was the heritage of the Knights Templar in Portugal, after the suppression of the Templars in 1312...
by the Portuguese government.
Death
In 1869, Gomes was afflicted with a debilitating illness and his body began to waste. He hoped to spend his remaining days in Goa, and left Europe for India by the S.S. Messalia on 25 September. 36 hours after entering the Mediterranean seaMediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
, he died on board the ship on 30 September, aged 40. The eminent Portuguese writer, Júlio Dantas
Júlio Dantas
Júlio Dantas, GCC was a Portuguese doctor, poet, journalist, politician, diplomat and dramatist.-Biography:...
commented about Gomes' legacy: