Roberto Landell de Moura

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Roberto Landell de Moura

Father Roberto Landell de Moura (born January 21, 1861 in Porto Alegre , † June 30, 1928 there ) was a Brazilian Roman Catholic priest and inventor .

Life

Roberto Landell de Moura was born in Porto Alegre, Brazil, as the fourth child of Inacio Jose Ferreira de Moura and his wife Sara Mariana Landell de Moura. After he was first taught by his father, Landell later went to the elementary school of Professor Hilario Ribeiro and then switched to the college of Professor Fernando Gomez.

Dom Pedro II, photograph 1876.
The article in the “Jornal do Commercio” of June 10, 1900
Capela de Santa Cruz in Sao Paulo.

At the age of eleven he started attending the Nossa Senhora da Conceição seminary in São Leopoldo . Landell later studied canon law with his brother in Rome and enrolled on March 22, 1878 at the Colegio Pio-Americano . He also studied chemistry and physics at the Pontifical Gregorian University . Already here his interest in the phenomena of "electricity" awoke and he published his theory on the "unity of physical forces and the harmony of the universe".

In 1886 Landell was finally ordained as a priest and returned to Brazil, where a short time later he took over the representation of the castle chaplain who was friends with him . Through this task he got to know Emperor Dom Pedro . Mainly because of the common interest in science, a friendly relationship developed between the two. Dom Pedro II had the reputation of being the "senior teacher of the nation", as he promoted scientific progress in the country, among other things; he was considered one of the most capable monarchs of his time.

In February 1887 Landell returned to his native city of Porto Alegre, where he was appointed chaplain of the "Igreja do Bom Finn". At the same time he became a teacher at the "Episcopal Seminar". After he was briefly appointed Vicar of Uruguaiana on May 20 of the same year , he was transferred to the state of São Paulo . After being released from his priesthood, he went to the USA for three years in 1901 to present the results of his technical experiments and have them patented.

After Landell finally returned to Brazil impoverished and worn out at the end of 1904, he again exercised the priesthood, where he repeatedly came into conflict with the official church and was therefore transferred several times. Landell became archdeacon of the Chapel Beneficiencia in 1927. He died on June 30, 1928 in Porto Alegre as a result of pneumonia. He was buried in the priestly cemetery "Gloria in the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes".

Landell's remains were transferred to the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary in Porto Alegre on July 13, 2002. He was baptized here on February 19, 1863 and was a pastor himself from 1915 to 1928. A plaque with the dedication “The priest and forerunner of telecommunications” is located at the grave site, which is located under an altar.

Acting as a radio pioneer

According to a testimony of 1933 in the “Journal da Manha” published in Porto Alegre, Landell, who carried out scientific experiments in addition to his work as a priest, carried out wireless transmissions in telegraphy and telephony over distances of up to eight kilometers between 1890 and 1894. Even if another witness had already reported in the daily newspaper “A União” five years earlier about an encounter with the experimenting priest in 1893, there is no evidence of this. With his experiments, Landell would have anticipated the Italian physicist and pioneer of wireless telecommunications Guglielmo Marconi , whose experiments are documented for the year 1895.

During his time as a priest in Campinas from 1894 to 1896, he finally wrote down the theories and laws he had developed.

On June 3, 1900, he demonstrated five of the devices developed by Landell in the presence of the British consul and other personalities. As the "Journal da Manha" reported on June 16, 1900, Landell also offered in a letter to the British consul Mr. Lupton the "Teleauxiophon", "Caleophon", "Amenatophon", "Teletion" and "Ediphon" called inventions UK government for sale or gift. In the latter case, he hoped that any profit would go to an orphanage or an educational institution. It is not known, however, whether Landell's letter was ever answered.

On March 9, 1901, Landell filed his patent for “an apparatus for voice transmission with and without wire, through space, over the earth and water, in sun or rain, heavy fog and also in winds” in Brazil. Since his inventions were apparently not understood in his home country and he had no prospect of the material help he had hoped for, Landell initially had himself released from his priesthood and went to Manhattan ( New York City ) in the United States to study his inventions here for three years to be patented. To do this, he first set up a small laboratory there and on October 4 the patent office in Washington, DC registered Landell's first invention under number 77,576. This was followed by patents number 89,976 on January 16, 1902 and number 142,440 on February 13, 1903. In a report on wireless telegraphy that appeared in the New Yorker Herald on October 12, 1902, Landell's work was reported among other things. There was also an interview with the South American inventor here.

Works (selection)

Inventions and patents

There is hardly any verifiable evidence that Landell's inventions actually worked; almost only third-party testimonies are known. That is why his work during Landell's lifetime to the present time has repeatedly raised doubts. Only the functionality of the wave transmitter, patented in the USA in 1904, has been proven. A public demonstration of the device took place in Porto Alegre on September 7, 1984. It proved that Landell's invention actually worked. During the demonstration, the then governor of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul Jair Soares spoke a few words into a replica of the device, and hundreds of those present clearly heard the words "Porto Alegre".

  • Patents

  • Wiring diagram
    "Wireless Telegraph"
    1904

  • Wiring diagram
    "Wireless Telephon"
    1904

  • Circuit diagram
    "Wave Transmitter"
    1904

  • Patent
    "Wireless Telegraph"
    1904

  • Patent
    "Wireless Telephon"
    1904

  • Patent
    "Wave Transmitter"
    1904

Note: The original documents of the patents filed in the USA in 1904 are kept in the "Museum of History and Geography of Rio Grande do Sul".

Fonts

  • Unity of physical strength and harmony in the universe (during Landell's time as a student in Rome)

Honors

In the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary in Porto Alegre there is a plaque in honor of Father Landell. In front of the Basilica de Nossa Senhora da Medianeira , Santa Maria, Rosario there is a monument that commemorates him.

The Brazilian amateur radio association Liga de Amadores Brasileiros de Rádio Emissão (LABRE) officially elected him on September 25, 1981 as its patron .

For many Brazilian radio amateurs and members of the Ordem de Radioamadores Padre Roberto Landell de Moura , Landell is also considered a pioneer in telecommunications. The Ordem was founded by Brazilian radio amateurs who issued two amateur radio diplomas in memory of Landell .

For the diploma "Father Roberto Landell" contacts with five key stations of the order must be proven. A certified log book excerpt is sufficient as proof. Another diploma issued by the “Ordem de Radioamadores Padre Roberto Landell de Moura” is the “Father Roberto Landell 100”. To achieve the diploma, 100 points are required, which can be earned through contacts with key stations of the order. For both diplomas, contacts apply from October 1, 1983.

On January 21, 2011, the Brazilian Post issued a special stamp to mark Landell's 150th birthday. There was also a special cancellation on this occasion.

Literature (selection)

  • B. Hamilton Almeida: Father and Scientist: The Story of Father Roberto Landell de Moura . Debras Verlag, Konstanz 2004, ISBN 978-3-937150-01-7 (German translation by Alda Schlemmer Niemeyer, PP5ASN).
  • Heinz Prange (DK8GH): On the history of Father Landell . In: AFM news . No. 02 , 1998 ( amateurfunkmuseum.de ).
  • Ernano Fornari: The incredible Father Landell de Moura . Editora Globe, 1960.
  • Fernando Canduro: The man at the telecommunications button . Editora Feplam, Porto Alegre 1977.
  • Arnaldo Nascimento, Murill Sousa Reis: Contribution to the repayment of a debt . Portugal 1952.
  • Eckart Roloff : Roberto Landell de Moura: One of them transmits early - with the blessing from above? In: Eckart Roloff: Divine flashes of inspiration. Pastors and priests as discoverers and inventors. Wiley-VCH, Weinheim 2010, pp. 279–293, ISBN 978-3-527-32578-8 (with references to places of remembrance, museums, streets, associations, etc.). 2nd updated edition 2012, ISBN 978-3-527-32864-2 (paperback).

Web links

Commons : Roberto Landell de Moura  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Landell's entry on the homepage of the Funk Documentation Archive (DokuFunk)
  2. ↑ Klaus Koths (DG4DAM) “Father Roberto Landell de Moura-Patron saint of Brazilian radio amateurs” in CQ DL 7/88 pp. 430 to 434 after a lecture given by Alda Niemeyer in 1985 in the DARC local branch Dortmund-Süd (online on the homepage of Alda Niemeyer: Page: 430 Page: 431 Page: 432 Page: 433 Page: 434 )
  3. ↑ Klaus Koths (DG4DAM) “Father Roberto Landell de Moura-Patron saint of Brazilian radio amateurs” in CQ DL 7/88 pp. 430 to 434 after a lecture given by Alda Niemeyer in 1985 in the DARC local branch Dortmund-Süd (online on the homepage of Alda Niemeyer: Page: 430 Page: 431 Page: 432 Page: 433 Page: 434 )
  4. ^ Image of the public demonstration in September 1984 of the Wave Transmitter on the Dokufunk homepage
  5. ↑ Patronage at LABRE.org.br (Portuguese), accessed on September 3, 2019.
  6. ↑ Announcement of the two diplomas of the "Ordem de Radioamadores Padre Roberto Landell de Moura" on the homepage of the DARC local association Dortmund-Süd (O41)
  7. ↑ List of members of the "Ordem de Radioamadores Padre Roberto Landell de Moura" ( Memento from January 12, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
personal data
SURNAME Landell de Moura, Roberto
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Landell de Moura, Joseph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Brazilian Roman Catholic priest and inventor
DATE OF BIRTH January 21, 1861
PLACE OF BIRTH Porto Alegre
DATE OF DEATH June 30, 1928
Place of death Porto Alegre