Technology ShowcaseBrazilian Navy

Person / Era 4

Vice Admiral Álvaro Alberto

Álvaro Alberto da Motta e Silva

A chemist and Naval Academy professor, he argued that atomic minerals should be traded for technology and was the first president of CNPq, from 1951 to 1955. He is the Navy's patron of ST&I.

Born
April 22, 1889, Rio de Janeiro/RJ
Died
January 31, 1976, Rio de Janeiro/RJ
Field
Nuclear energy and science policy
Patron
Science, Technology and Innovation (ST&I) in the Brazilian Navy
Black-and-white photographic portrait of a balding man with grey hair at the sides, in a dark suit, striped tie and pocket square, smiling slightly.
Vice Admiral Álvaro Alberto da Motta e Silva, first president of the National Research Council, 1951. Agência Nacional collection, National Archives of Brazil.Agência Nacional, Arquivo Nacional, Fundo Agência Nacional (BR_RJANRIO_EH_0_FOT_PPU_08657_0001). Public domain processed image

Career

He attended the Naval Academy from 1906 to 1910 and received the Greenhalgh Prize, the school's highest academic award. From 1916 to 1946 he taught there, first as an instructor and then as chair of Chemistry, Gunpowder and Explosives. He developed Rupturita, an explosive made by a company he founded.

In 1939 he added uranium fission to the Naval Academy's chemistry syllabus. A 1941 magazine and the school's director in 1946 recorded the Naval Academy as the first school in Brazil to study atomic science.

In 1946 and 1947 he represented Brazil on the UN Atomic Energy Commission. There he put forward the idea of specific compensation: a country that exports nuclear raw materials should receive access to technology in return, not just payment.

He presided over the Brazilian Academy of Sciences and led the commission that drafted the bill for a National Research Council. Law 1,310 of 15 January 1951 created CNPq, and he became its first president. IMPA and INPA were founded during his term.

He negotiated the purchase of three ultracentrifuges in West Germany to enrich uranium. The Allied occupation authorities, under US pressure, stopped the shipment. He left CNPq in March 1955, the year he was promoted to Vice Admiral.

Timeline

  1. 1889Born in Rio de Janeiro on 22 April.
  2. 1906Enters the Naval Academy.
  3. 1916Begins teaching Chemistry, Gunpowder and Explosives at the Naval Academy, where he stays until 1946.
  4. 1939Adds uranium fission to the Naval Academy's chemistry syllabus.
  5. 1946Represents Brazil on the UN Atomic Energy Commission.
  6. 1951Becomes the first president of CNPq, created by Law 1,310.
  7. 1955Is promoted to Vice Admiral and leaves the presidency of CNPq.
  8. 1976Dies in Rio de Janeiro on 31 January.
  9. 2011Is named the Brazilian Navy's patron of ST&I.

In their words

to develop an atomic mindset in Brazil, step up the training of technologists and scientists, bring foreign scientists to teach us and send Brazilians to learn at the great research centres of friendly countries

Álvaro AlbertoRecordThe first task he proposed for CNPq, in a statement collected in the book 50 anos do CNPq contados pelos seus presidentes (2002), edited by Shozo Motoyama. Quoted by Pesquisa FAPESP magazine.Pesquisa FAPESP, ed. 79, set. 2002, "50 anos do CNPq"

the Golden Law of research

Álvaro AlbertoRecordHis name for Law 1,310 of 15 January 1951, which created CNPq, in the same statement. The Golden Law of 1888 abolished slavery in Brazil.Pesquisa FAPESP, ed. 79, set. 2002, "50 anos do CNPq"

Quote labels: Document (read in the primary source), Record (reliable secondary source), Attributed (circulates without a located primary source).

Legacy

CNPq's Admiral Álvaro Alberto Prize and the nuclear-powered submarine the Navy is developing, the SNCA Álvaro Alberto, both bear his name.

Sources

  1. Marinha do Brasil, página "Patrono" (captura de 14/08/2026 no Internet Archive)
  2. CPDOC/FGV, DHBB, verbete "Álvaro Alberto da Mota e Silva"
  3. GOTAÇ, P. R. "Almirante Álvaro Alberto: docente, empreendedor e político". Revista Marítima Brasileira, 4º trim. 2022
  4. SANTOS FILHO, P. G. "Mais uma marca da Escola Naval". Revista de Villegagnon, 2021/2022
  5. Pesquisa FAPESP, ed. 79, set. 2002, "50 anos do CNPq"
  6. Lei nº 1.310, de 15 de janeiro de 1951
  7. Agência Marinha de Notícias, 31/10/2024, avanços do submarino nuclear Álvaro Alberto

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