Domingos Soares Ferreira Penna

Domingos Soares Ferreira Penna (1818–1888) was a Brazilian naturalist from the state of Minas Gerais, who founded the Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, in Belém, and undertook important research in the archeology and natural resources of the lower Amazon River valley.

In 1870, he discovered one of the most important units of the Tertiary fossils of Brazil: Pirabas.

In two letters published by the National Museum (1876, 1877), recorded his observations on the shell mounds installed in the regions "dark and swampy" on the east coast of Para, which he excavated, measured, topographed and mapped, making notes on their condition conservation and major events archeological - human bones, lithic and ceramic artefacts - describing them and locating them in their stratigraphic layers.

The Ferreira Penna Scientific Station in Melgaço, Pará state, Brazil, is named after him, as are various Amazon River boats.

References

• Cunha, O. R. da (1989). Domingos Soares Ferreira Penna (1818–1888). In: O. R. da Cunha (Auth.), Talento e atitude. Estudos biográficos do Museu Emílio Goeldi (pp. 20-47). Belém, Brazil: Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi.
• Ferreira Penna, D. S. (1876). A ilha de Marajó. Relatório apresentado ao Exmo. Sr. Dr. Francisco Maria Corrêa da Sá e Benevides. Belém: Tipographia do Diário Grão-Pará.
• Ferreira Penna, D. S. (1877). Apontamentos sobre os cerâmios do Pará. Archivos do Museu Nacional do Rio de Janeiro, 2, 47-67.
• Ferreira Penna, D. S. (1885). Índios de Marajó. Archivos do Museu Nacional do Rio de Janeiro, 6, 108-115.
• Ferreira Penna, D. S. (1971). Obras completas de Domingos Soares Ferreira Penna (reprint). Belém: Conselho Estadual de Cultura.