Landell de Moura

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Father Roberto Landell de Moura (January 21, 1861–June 30, 1928) was a Brazilian Roman Catholic priest and inventor who publicly demonstrated a radio broadcast of the human voice on June 3, 1900.

De Moura was ordained to the priesthood in 1886 in Rome. He also studied the physical sciences, and following his radio broadcast over 8 km in São Paulo, he was granted a Brazilian patent on March 09, 1901. De Moura then travelled to the United States and secured three patents there, for a "Wave Transmitter" (October 11, 1904), a "Wireless Telephone" and "Wireless Telegraph", both dated November 22, 1904. His subsequent requests to the Brazilian government for assistance in developing his invention were denied, and his efforts then languished.

Father Landell de Moura

We all admire the great men and women who left an indelible and positive mark for humanity, in every manifestation of human wisdom. Some were philosophers, clergymen, poets, artists and scientists. These people were moved by great inspiration. Many had short lives, passing by Earth but for a few brief moments, much like a celestial body would streak through the Firmament, though leaving profound and permanent landmarks for the future generations . Those landmarks were creations in the search for a better tomorrow. Each one of these great persons came, took his or her turn, passed the baton, and left.

In each fleeting moment in humanity's timeline, they gave us yet another "brick" to construct a better "building" for us to live in. But... not all these great persons, who spent all their lives in the research of their discoveries, received the appropriate credit for their efforts.

One of those was Father Roberto Landell de Moura — Father Landell, as he liked to be called — a Brazilian who was born in the city of Porto Alegre - Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil. Do you know him? - You don't?

Well, we in Brazil spent our time in school being told that Guglielmo Marconi was the inventor of radio. But the man who for the first time accomplished the transmission of the human voice by a wireless machine, that is, by irradiating an electromagnetic wave, modulated by an audio signal, was none other than this Brazilian scientist/priest. He conducted his first public experiment on June 3, 1900 in front of journalists and the General Consul of Great Britain, Mr. C.P.Lupton, in the City of São Paulo, Brazil, reaching a distance of approximately 8 km. The points of transmission and reception were: the Santana Borough and Avenida Paulista in the downtown sector.

At that time, the only available means of communications were the Wired Telegraph invented by Samuel Morse (1837), the Wired Telephone by Graham Bell (1876) and radiotelegraphy by Marconi (1895).

The great challenge was to transmit an audio signal without the aid of wires. Several scientists were trying to accomplish this, but Father Landell was the first to succeed. His merits are great ones, when we take into account that he developed it totally on his own!.

Father Landell, a person of mystical qualities, was also a very practical man, indeed. Many great scientists are superlative in the applications of theory. Father Landell integrated theoretical and practical qualities at the same time. He was the scientist, an engineer and a worker.

One year after the above experiment in public, he received his first patent from the Brazilian government. It was described as "equipment for the purpose of phonetic transmissions through space, land and water elements at a distance with or without the use of wires". It is dated March 9, 1901.

Four months later, conscious that his invention had real value, he left Brazil for the United States of America with the intent of patenting the machine at the U.S.Patent Office in Washington, DC. With scarce resources, he had to rely on friends such as Daniel Tamagno to push ahead his project. In spite of great difficulties, three patents were finally awarded: "The Wave Transmitter" (October 11, 1904) which is the precursor of today's radio transceiver; " The Wireless Telephone" and the "Wireless Telegraph", both dated November 22, 1904.

In the same year, he conceived yet another invention: "The Telephotorama", or "The Distance Vision", the precursor of television as we know it today, which would be demonstrated publicly only by the year of 1926. A few of his manuscripts infere that some video communications problems had already been solved by him. This allows us to conclude that Father Landell was in the path to create "The Transmission and Reception of Images".

He can be considered a pioneer of television, even if few documents have survived him. It cannot be determined to what point he researched the subject. Some of those documents were studied by Telebras and a conclusion was reached that the sketches were "A Study to Build a Telegraph Register". That indicates that at the minimum, Father Landell idealized a remote control via radio or teletype, inventions that would become known by World War I.

With the support of three U.S. Patents, he believed that his future was a bright one. Upon his return to Brazil, he wrote to the then President of Brazil, Mr. Rodrigues Alves, requesting the use of two Navy ships to conduct radio transmission experiments.

In the missive, he expressed that the vessels should be placed at "At The Greatest Distance Possible Among Them, Since In the Future, Radio Would Be Used For Space Travel Communications". That statement caused him to be judged mentally unstable, if we take into account that after a long period, he received a presidential diplomatic response letter, declaring the unavailability of such Navy equipment.

As far as in space travel is concerned, we can affirm the following: "The Rest is History...." Due to the incredulous mindset of the authorities of that era, many important pieces of his equipment were destroyed. As we can see, Father Landell's singular mind and the magnitude of his works, were not given the proper recognition.

His name, as well as his Country d'ont appear in the legitimate credits, once its happens, it should be reason of great pride for all Brazilians. Information was gathered from several sources and shown on a July 16, 1988 report of a Porto Alegre newspaper, and FEPLAM - (Fundação Educacional Padre Landell de Moura) - The Father Landell Educational Foundation.

Recently, CIENTEC built a replica of The Wave Transmitter and upon conclusion of the tests, it was determided that it can reach a broad spectrum, even FM. Within its limitations, the transceiver works, and is uncontested proof of his genius. The equipment is on display for public viewing at the FEPLAM, in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul.

A Brief Biographical History of Father Landell De Moura Born on January 21, 1861 in the City of Porto Alegre, in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Ordained as a Roman Catholic Priest in Rome, in the year of 1886. There, he also studied in the field of Physics and Chemistry Research, developing the first concepts about "Unity and Physics Forces" and "Universal Harmony". These theories would guide him to his future inventions. He also took interest in the "Physics and Science" and the "Medicine and Chemistry" fields. Father Landell researched that all bodies - animate and inanimate - were encircled by a coloured luminous energy halo, invisible to the naked eye.

Some of his documents pointing to that discovery exist, dating from the year 1907. In fact, he photographed the effect in 1909, which would be known as "The Kirlian Effect", due to the works of the Russian couple Semyon and Valentina Kirlian. Father Landell passed away in Porto Alegre, on June 30, 1928.