Published in the journal “Diálogos,” the journal of the Department and Postgraduate Program in History at the State University of Maringá (UEM), Maringá-PR, Brazil, and available for download, is the article Impressions and Emotions of Júlio de Matos (1856-1922) on Porto and its Institutions between the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries.

This results from the analysis of a set of unpublished correspondence by Júlio de Matos, a Portuguese psychiatrist who played an important role in the reorganization of care for the mentally ill. The correspondence exchanged with various recipients, notably family members, allows access to the doctor’s emotions and feelings, in what is a process of catharsis in the face of the difficulties experienced after the litigation he was involved in with the Santa Casa of Porto in 1911.

In his letters, the city of Porto, its inhabitants, and institutions acquire caricatural, even pathological, traits. The harshness of the words and observations reflects the doctor’s discouragement and bitterness in the face of the changes that have marked his life.

 

Participants: Tânia Ferreira e Alexandra Esteves (Lab2PT/IN2PAST)

 

Paper available: HERE