Technology ShowcaseBrazilian Navy

Person / Era 2

Admiral Barão de Teffé

Antônio Luís von Hoonholtz

A hydrographer, he wrote the first hydrography handbook in Portuguese adopted by the Navy Academy and was the first director of the Hydrographic Office, created in 1876.

Born
May 9, 1837, Província do Rio de Janeiro
Died
1931, Petrópolis/RJ
Field
Hydrography and astronomy
Photographic portrait of a man with a full beard and thin-rimmed glasses, in full-dress uniform with epaulettes and medals, inside an oval frame.
Antônio Luís von Hoonholtz, Baron of Teffé, first director of the Hydrographic Office, photographed by Marc Ferrez for the panel of the Astronomical Commission on the transit of Venus, 1883. National Library of Brazil.Marc Ferrez (1843-1923), Biblioteca Nacional (BN Digital). Public domain processed image

Career

In 1857, as aide to the future Viscount of Lamare, he carried out one of the Navy's first hydrographic surveys, of Guanabara Bay. In 1859 he published the Compêndio de Hidrografia, the first work on the subject in Portuguese adopted by the Navy Academy.

In 1871 he led the survey of the border with Peru at the headwaters of the Japurá and Javari rivers. The work took about three years and cost dozens of lives, his brother's among them.

Decree 6,113 of 2 February 1876 created the Hydrographic Office to survey and chart the whole Brazilian coast. Teffé was its first director, from 1876 to January 1890. The office is the forerunner of today's Directorate of Hydrography and Navigation.

On 6 December 1882 he led the Brazilian team that observed the transit of Venus from the island of Saint Thomas, in the Antilles, together with the Imperial Observatory. It was part of a 14-nation effort to measure the solar parallax.

In 1883 he helped found the Geographical Society of Rio de Janeiro and argued for a national science, carried out by Brazilians. He retired with the rank of Admiral in 1912 and also served as a diplomat and politician.

Timeline

  1. 1837Born in the province of Rio de Janeiro on 9 May.
  2. 1857Surveys Guanabara Bay.
  3. 1859Publishes the Compêndio de Hidrografia.
  4. 1871Leads the border survey with Peru on the Japurá and Javari rivers.
  5. 1876Becomes the first director of the Hydrographic Office.
  6. 1882Leads the Brazilian observation of the transit of Venus.
  7. 1883Helps found the Geographical Society of Rio de Janeiro.
  8. 1890Leaves the Hydrographic Office in January.
  9. 1912Retires with the rank of Admiral.
  10. 1931Dies in Petrópolis.

In their words

I am a hydrographer in time of peace, but in time of war I claim my standing as a combat officer, and I therefore hasten to ask Your Excellency for permission to take the ship under my command to the port of Rio de Janeiro to complete her guns and ammunition, and then sail for the River Plate to join the Division in operations.

Barão de TefféRecordFrom an 1864 letter to Navy Headquarters, written after the capture of the steamer Marquês de Olinda, when he commanded the gunboat Araguari. The text is on a plaque in the DHN's historic buildings and was transcribed in the Anais Hidrográficos. The original letter has not been found.FERREIRA, A. M. "Aula inaugural para a 77ª turma do CAHO". Anais Hidrográficos, LXXXI (2024), p. 11-12

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

Legacy

The Hydrographic Office he ran is the root of the Directorate of Hydrography and Navigation, to which today's Navy Hydrographic Center belongs.

Sources

  1. ROBBA, O. R. "Ciência e território na trajetória de Antônio Luís von Hoonholtz". Navigator, v. 20, n. 40, 2024
  2. Decreto nº 6.113, de 2 de fevereiro de 1876
  3. DHN, ex-diretores (captura de 19/08/2026 no Internet Archive)
  4. LIMA JUNIOR, A. R. P. "Hidrografia! Hidrografia!". Revista Marítima Brasileira, 4º trim. 2014
  5. FERREIRA, A. M. "Aula inaugural para a 77ª turma do CAHO". Anais Hidrográficos, LXXXI (2024)

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