Os primórdios do ensino de química em Minas Gerais na Escola de Farmácia de Ouro Preto

Abstract

The purpose of this work was to investigate and analyze documents from the Escola de Farmácia de Ouro Preto, in order to understand how the teaching of Chemistry was introduced in Minas Gerais. It was possible to know, mainly from primary sources, details of how the first Chemistry lessons were from the last decades of the 19th century to the first two of the 20th century. The on-site surveys were carried out on the premises of the Museu de Farmácia de Ouro Preto and, although not all the existing material was properly catalogued, there was access to primary sources that had been unused for several decades: notebooks, class diaries, minutes and even rare books from the 19th century. Extensive research was also carried out in the National Digital Library collection, the results of which are described in three chapters. The elaboration of these chapters took place from the experiences lived throughout the process, since it was necessary to discuss the educational scenario in Brazil before analyzing the primary sources themselves. In Chapter 1, the first activities of teaching Chemistry in Brazil were discussed, especially in Rio de Janeiro, Bahia and Ouro Preto. There was talk of the creation of the 1st Chair of Chemistry in Brazil, occupied by Daniel Gardner (1810); the reform of José Maria Bomtempo (1820) and the institution of Chemistry as a compulsory subject in the medical course; the creation of the Chair of Chemistry in the Pharmacy course, which took place in Bahia (1817); the inauguration of the Bahia Chemistry Laboratory (1823); and the inaugural class at the Ouro Preto School of Pharmacy (1840). In Chapter 2, the educational reforms that took place in Brazil were discussed, especially in the final decades of the 19th century until 1925. Data were presented on the 1st educational reform of 1854, the Couto Ferraz Reform, as well as on the Leôncio Reform. de Carvalho (1879), which was marked by establishing the freedom to open private schools, the freedom to attend classes and the guarantee of women attending courses and obtaining an academic degree. Subsequently, a strong positivist onslaught was observed in the reforms of the then Republic of Brazil: Benjamim Constant Reform (1890-91), Epitácio Pessoa Reform (1901), Rivadávia Correia Reform (1911), Carlos Maximiliano Reform (1915) and Rocha Reform Vaz (1925). The analysis of the documents found confirms the strong impact that such reforms had on the teaching of Chemistry in the Pharmacy course in Ouro Preto. Over the years and due to the reform in force, the content of Chemistry was reduced or increased, with the extinction or merger of some chairs. Despite the insufficiency of records of the academic life of the Escola de Farmácia de Ouro Preto during the first 50 years after its foundation, in Chapter 3 the primary sources surveyed were investigated. A comparison was made between what was taught, especially in Chemistry, at the Ouro Preto School of Pharmacy and what was taught in that same discipline in the major European centers. The study revealed that, in its beginnings, the teaching of Chemistry in Minas Gerais was in line with what was taught in the great centers of the old continent. One of the primary sources studied was Professor Dr. Gomes Freire de Andrade, from the Chair of Analytical Chemistry and Toxicology, the first entry being dated March 6, 1893, whose class title was "Toxicology of Lead and its Compounds". doctor Gomes Freire probably studied the literatura of the Spaniard Mathieu Joseph Bonaventure Orfila, then known as an exponent of Toxicology. The analysis of the Chair of Biological Chemistry, conducted by Professor Antônio Ribeiro da Silva Braga, revealed that the students had access to modern equipment at the time, such as a spectroscope, polarimeter, saccharimeter and Wild's polaristrobometer. And, at the end of the Biological Chemistry program, Professor Antônio Ribeiro mentioned that Wurtz's Tractado de Chimica Biologica should be adopted as a textbook, a clear indication that the course was in tune with what was taught in Europe . This initial study allowed us to gather some information about the teaching of Chemistry in Ouro Preto, at the School of Pharmacy. It was possible to conclude that the level of teaching in Chemistry was equivalent to that taught in Europe, including the use of modern equipment for the time. Pharmacists graduated from the School of Pharmacy had excellent training in Analytical, Inorganic and Organic Chemistry. These graduates certainly used this knowledge in the exercise of their professions, however the multiplier effect of these experiences on the teaching of Chemistry in Minas Gerais is still open to investigation.