In 1899, 23 years before the first radio broadcast made from stations installed in Brazil, a priest carried out the oldest transmission of voice over radio waves in the country.
In the United States, Landell de Moura registered patents for transmissions by radio waves and beams of light. However, upon returning to Brazil, the religious had requests for resources and demonstrations denied by the government.
“This happened in a public experience – it is a documented fact – on July 16, 1899, in São Paulo, more specifically at Colégio Santana, from where the initial sounds of a radio set came from, both voice and musical sounds. ”, says the writer and journalist Hamilton Almeida, biographer of the scientist for 45 years.
According to the specialist, the lack of support for the development of his technologies resulted in the forgetting of the name of the religious. “Unfortunately, in his day, obscurantism won. And what is intended now, rescuing his history, is to show the pioneering spirit and importance of everything he did”, he emphasizes.
The priest also used continuous waves in his transmissions. On his trip to the United States, he recommended the adoption of shortwaves to increase transmission distances. “In summary, Father Landell considered the possibility of wireless transmission of the human voice and other sounds, texts and images”, he explains.
In his book “Father Landell: the Brazilian who invented the wireless”, Almeida reveals that the scientist was recognized by American inventors because his experiments served as a reference for other telecommunication devices patented in the United States.
first transmission
In the unprecedented public demonstration of radio broadcast, on July 16, 1899, the Brazilian priest said “Play the National Anthem!”.
The audio transmission from Colégio Santana, in the North Zone of São Paulo, to Ponte das Bandeiras, about four kilometers away, left the audience extremely surprised.
In the book that brings together the achievements of the religious, Hamilton Almeida reveals gaps in the inventor’s life in Brazil and in other countries.
“I saw that the history of the Brazilian was incomplete and that he was the victim of an injustice. I was putting the pieces together. I looked for hundreds of people who worked and lived with him, in addition to documents scattered in many places”, says the biographer.
According to the specialist, two public experiences of Moura in São Paulo were documented. The second experience, the year after the first, was published in only one vehicle, Jornal do Comércio, in Rio de Janeiro.
Landell, according to the biographer, patented the radio in Brazil and the United States. “I managed to delve into a number of aspects in this new research. There is also information that I consider very important is that his invention in the United States was recognized by other inventors. I was able to find evidence of this (and it is in the book).”
(With information from Heloísa Granito, from Jornal da USP, and from Luiz Claudio Ferreira, from Agência Brasil)
Source: CNN Brasil
