Joaquim José Machado

Joaquim José Machado, better known as Conselheiro (Councillor) Joaquim Machado or Major Machado (Lagos, 24 de Setembro de 1847 — Lisboa, 22 de Fevereiro de 1925) was a military engineer and a Portuguese politician.

Biography

Birth and education

He was born in the city of Lagos, on 24 September 1847.

He graduated in engineering.

Military and political career

After completing his studies, he enlisted in the Army in October 1869, and was promoted to sub-lieutenant in 1873, lieutenant in 1875, captain in 1876, major in 1887, lieutenant colonel in 1892 and colonel on November 21, 1895 . He was later promoted to general.

In 1877, he was appointed Director of Public Works in Mozambique. He carried out several public works in the province, especially the planning of the layout of the railway track from Lourenço Marques to Pretoria, which was commissioned by the president of the Transvaal Republic, Paul Kruger.

In 1890, he was appointed Governor of the Mozambique Province, a position he held until 1891. He played an important role during the British Ultimatum of 1890.

He also undertook the construction of a rail link between Moçâmedes and the Bié Province in Angola.

He was also on the Board of Governors of the Companhia de Moçambique and the Director of Public Works of Moçâmedes. He was also Governor of Mozambique on other two occasions, in 1900 and between 1914 and 1915.

Between 1897 to 1900, he became the 110th Governor of Portuguese India. In 1902, when he was a councillor, he traveled to London to discuss the rates of the Mormugao railway line, and was part of the commission for the management of that rail link.

Death

He expired in Lisbon, on the 22nd of February 1925.

Homage

He was honoured with the Ordem Militar de Avis, and decorated with the Ordem Militar de Sant'Iago da Espada.

He was honored in 1953 by the Sociedade de Geografia de Lisboa, which installed his bust, by the sculptor Raul Xavier. The Algarve press had the idea of placing a commemorative plaque in the house where he was born and a replica of his bust in a square in the city of Lagos. In Angola, three monuments were erected in his honor. The city of Camacupa, Angola got its name, and a South African region, through which the railway line passed was baptized as Machadodorp as a result of the combination of his name and the 'dorp' place name, which means a small town in Afrikaans.

A street in the parish of [São Sebastião, São Sebastião] Lagos, was named after him, upon the proposal of the Mayor, on 24 October 1895.

Bibliography

• Ferro, Silvestre Marchão. Vultos na Toponímia de Lagos. ed. ;Lagos: Câmara Municipal de Lagos, 2007. 358p ISBN 972-8773-00-5