by Fr. Nascimento Mascarenhas
Miguel Arcanjo Marques Lobo, a well-known Goan professor, was born in Mudd’davaddi, Saligao, on 9 August 1834 and passed away in Coimbra, Portugal, in December 1883. His parents in Goa were Francisco Joao Marques and Isabel Maria Lobo. He graduated in three faculties, through the University of Coimbra: Mathematics, with distinction, in 1860; Philosophy, also with distinction, in 1860; and Medicine, in 1861. He was appointed professor of “Introduction to the three kingdoms of nature and elementary mathematics”, for Viana do Castelo, a post that he held until 1866. Later on, he remained in Coimbra giving tuitions in the same subjects, while simultaneously conducting a clinic.
Professor Miguel Lobo was a member of the Instituto de Coimbra and wrote several books, all in Portuguese. According to Inocencio da Silva, who was familiar with the professor’s work, Miguel Arcanjo’s book on trigonometry was the first book in Portugal to provide rules for usage of the trigonometric tables of Callet, until then unheard of in the country. It was also noteworthy for its clarity, which was a distinguishing feature of all the elementary books written by the professor.
Professor Miguel Lobo also wrote popular textbooks on Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Arithmetic, Geometry, Geography, Mineralogy, Botany and Zoology. Some of his books were published under the initials “A da C”. According to Inocencio, this was because of the professional rivalry that existed among some professors in Coimbra — Professor Miguel was afraid that sales would be affected, were he to use his real name.
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