Bartolomeu Lourenço de Gusmão
Bartolomeu Lourenço de Gusmão (1686–1724) was a Brazilian priest credited with the construction of both lighter- and heavier-than-air vessels. These included an ornithopter called Passarola, a small-scale model of which may have flown, and a model hot-air balloon. Illustrations of the Passarola show an open frame with a sail or parachute above.[1]
Many (non-Portuguese-speaking) commentators have derided Bartolomeu Lourenço de Gusmão as a charlatan, and sometimes mistakenly identified him two people, Lorenzo de Guzman and Bartolomeo Laurenzo.[2]
Multiple contemporary accounts describe a similar event in the court of John V in 1709, in which the inventor was at first frustrated when his balloon caught fire, but then succeeded the following day in causing the balloon to rise to the top of the room.[2][3]
In 1724 he fled the Portuguese Inquisition, arriving in Toledo, Spain, and there dying from illness.[2]
Publications by or about Bartolomeu Lourenço de Gusmão
- Blerzy, 1863, Les aérostats et les aéronefs (Simple title: Aerostats and 'airships', Journal: Revue des Deux Mondes)
- Publication 10094, 1908, Le premier aérostat. (Don Guzmao de Portugal.) (Simple title: The first aerostat. (Don Guzmao from Portugal.), Journal: La Conq. l'Air)
- Neves, 1911, Commemoração das experiencias aerostaticas de Bartholomeu Lourenço de Guzmão em 1709 (Simple title: Commemoration of the aeronautical experiments of Bartholomeu Lourenço de Guzmão in 1709, Journal: Boletim Aero-Club de Portugal)
- Besio Moreno, 1914, Historia de la Navegación Aérea (Simple title: History of Aerial Navigation, Journal: Anales de la Sociedad Científica Argentina)
References
- ↑ Gibbs-Smith, Aviation, 1970, p. 14.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Francisco Videira Louro, with João Melo de Sousa, "Father Bartholomeu Lourenço de Gusmão: a Charlatan or the First Practical Pioneer of Aeronautics in History"; AIAA Paper 2014-0282, presented in the 52nd Aerospace Sciences Meeting, 13 January 2014, National Harbor, Maryland.
- ↑ Dollfus & Bouché, 1938, Histoire de l'aéronautique, p. 9.
Links
| Names | Bartolomeu Lourenço de Gusmão |
|---|---|
| Birth date | 1685 |
| Death date | 1724 |
| Countries | Brazil, ES |
| Locations | Toledo |
| Occupations | clergy |
| Tech areas | LTA, Model, Hot air, Ornithopter |
| Affiliations | |
| Wikidata id | Q709516 |
