Technology ShowcaseBrazilian Navy

Person / Era 5

Vice Admiral Paulo Moreira

Paulo de Castro Moreira da Silva

An oceanographer, he turned the Almirante Saldanha into Brazil's first oceanographic ship and conceived the Cabo Frio Project, the origin of the institute that now bears his name.

Born
October 18, 1919
Died
May 1, 1983
Field
Oceanography

Career

He served as a liaison officer with the Brazilian Expeditionary Force in Italy. He then did graduate studies in Europe and carried out extensive scientific work at the Directorate of Hydrography and Navigation.

In 1956, as a Lieutenant Commander, he set up a survey of the fertility of coastal waters. It identified the Cabo Frio area, shaped by upwelling, as a promising place to produce protein from the sea.

Between 1962 and 1964 he converted the training ship Almirante Saldanha into Brazil's first oceanographic ship, with laboratories for marine biology, chemistry, meteorology, radioactivity, geology and ichthyology. He was her first commanding officer.

He joined the Navy Research Institute in 1968. As its director, he conceived the Cabo Frio Project, launched in 1971 and set up in Arraial do Cabo in 1974, meant to serve also as a university of the sea.

The project gave rise to the National Institute of Sea Studies, created on 26 April 1984. In March 1985 the institute was renamed after him. He is called the patron of oceanography in Brazil, an honorary title with no formal act.

Timeline

  1. 1919Born on 18 October.
  2. 1956Organizes the study that points to Cabo Frio as a promising area for food from the sea.
  3. 1962Begins converting the Almirante Saldanha into an oceanographic ship, finished in 1964.
  4. 1968Joins the Navy Research Institute.
  5. 1971Launches the Cabo Frio Project.
  6. 1974The project moves to Arraial do Cabo.
  7. 1983Dies on 1 May.
  8. 1984The National Institute of Sea Studies is created from the Cabo Frio Project.
  9. 1985The institute is renamed the Admiral Paulo Moreira Institute of Sea Studies.
  10. 2019The Navy and the Federal Senate mark the centenary of his birth.

In their words

National power is no more than the strength to conceive a destiny of one's own and the command of the technological means to achieve it. Fostering creative imagination has become the foremost duty of States.

Paulo MoreiraRecordFrom a speech on receiving an award in São Paulo on 12 June 1975, quoted at a special session of the Federal Senate for the centenary of his birth, on 22 October 2019. The original 1975 text has not been found.Senado Federal, notas taquigráficas da 201ª Sessão Especial, 22/10/2019

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

Legacy

The Admiral Paulo Moreira Institute of Sea Studies (IEAPM), in Arraial do Cabo, bears his name and grew out of the Cabo Frio Project he conceived.

Sources

  1. Senado Federal, notas taquigráficas da 201ª Sessão Especial, 22/10/2019 (centenário de Paulo Moreira)
  2. IEAPM, página histórica (captura de 11/07/2025 no Internet Archive)
  3. Decreto nº 91.124, de 13 de março de 1985
  4. CTMRJ, "Marinha do Brasil promove Centenário de nascimento do Vice-Almirante Paulo Moreira" (captura de 16/04/2021 no Internet Archive)

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