José Custódio da Silva (1897-1933)

the trajectory of a black chemist and his contributions to Brazilian chemistry in the early 20th century

Abstract

Despite the presence of black scientists in the most varied contexts, we know very little about the history of these scientists. The case of Brazilian chemistry is no different: little is known about the black men and women who collaborated with the construction of this science in Brazil. One of these characters forgotten – or ignored – by the history of science is José Custódio da Silva (1897-1933), a pharmacist and chemist from Minas Gerais, who specialized in physical chemistry in Germany and was the main responsible for the creation, in 1929, of the Revista Brasileira de Chimica, a periodical dedicated exclusively to the promotion of research in chemistry carried out in Brazil. We present in this article the trajectory of this scientist, as well as reflections on the absence of black scientists in the narratives about the history of Brazilian chemistry and the challenges encountered during the writing of this biography.