Roberto Ivens (12 June 1850 in Ponta Delgada – 28 January 1898 in Dafundo, Oeiras) was a Portuguese explorer of Africa, geographer, colonial administrator, and an officer of the Portuguese Navy.

Early life

Roberto Ivens was the son of Margarida Júlia de Medeiros Castelo Branco and Robert Breakspeare Ivens (1822-?). Margarida was of lower nobility and Roberto's Grandfather, William Ivens, was a merchant awarded the Ivens

Arms Arms or ARMS may refer to: *Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to: People * Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader Coat of arms or weapons *Armaments or weapons **Fi ...

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

in 1816. Robert Breakspeare Ivens was a great-grandson of Thomas Hickling (

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

1745-1836 Ponta Delgada) the American vice-consul in Ponta Delgada. In 1861, Ivens attended the Navy School in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

. At school Roberto was known as "Roberto of the Devil" and he became known as an intelligent young gentleman. He joined the Portuguese Navy in 1870 at the age of 20 and attended Escola Prática de Artilharia Naval in 1871. Ivens left for the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...

in September of the same year, where he was the garrison of the ''Estefânia''.

Travels

Ivens began his travels in

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in 1872. On 10 October 1874 he completed three years of travels in the colonies. Returning to Portugal in January 1875, Ivens made examination for

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

. In April 1875, he sailed on the '' Duque de Terceira'' for Portuguese São Tomé and Príncipe and various ports of South America. In 1876, Ivens set out for the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, bringing Portuguese products to

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

for the Centennial Exposition. His ancestor, Thomas Hickling, had been an ardent

American revolutionary Patriots, also known as Revolutionaries, Continentals, Rebels, or American Whigs, were the colonists of the Thirteen Colonies who rejected British rule during the American Revolution, and United States Declaration of Independence, declared the ...

, and had in fact left

for the

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following an argument with his

loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...

father. Ivens went on an expedition into the provinces of

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

and

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

beginning on 11 May 1877 and studied relations between hydrographic basins in

Zambezi The Zambezi River (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than hal ...

. His hydrographic studies are considered even today to be "amazingly perfect". In the same year he was promoted to the rank of

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a s ...

. Ivens went on an expedition on 21 June 1885 at Quelimane in Mozambique. Ivens, as requested by the King Luís I, and in the aftermath of the Berlin Conference, to travel between Angola and Mozambique, which ended in over 4,500 miles (about 8,300 km) of which 1/3 was uncharted in what was called " Contracosta". For his service to Portugal, Roberto had the honor of being named aide-de-camp to King Luís. In 1895, he was made Officer of

Military Order of Aviz The Military Order of Saint Benedict of Aviz ( pt, Ordem Militar de São Bento de Avis, ), previously to 1910 ''Royal Military Order of Saint Benedict of Aviz'' ( pt, Real Ordem Militar de São Bento de Avis), previously to 1789 ''Knights'' (of ...

and was nominated on October 17 as secretary of the Commission of Cartography.

Honours

Portugal has ten streets named after Roberto Ivens including one in Ponta Delgada named ''Avenida Roberto Ivens''. Several schools are named in his honor, including Escola Básica Integrada Roberto Ivens, near his birthplace. A species of African lizard, '' Lubuya ivensii'', is named in his honor. He was also portrayed in the 500

Angolan escudo The escudo was the currency of Angola between 1914 and 1928 and again between 1958 and 1977. It was subdivided into 100 ''centavos'' with the ''macuta'' worth 5 centavos and was equivalent to the Portuguese escudo. History The introduction of th ...

banknote issued in 1956. In 2019, TAP Air Portugal named an

Airbus A321 The Airbus A321 is a member of the Airbus A320 family of short to medium range, narrow-body, commercial passenger twin engine jet airliners; it carries 185 to 236 passengers. It has a stretched fuselage which was the first derivative of the ba ...

, registered CS-TXD, for Roberto Ivens.

Partial list of works

*'' De Benguela às Terras de Iaca'' 1881 *'' De Angola à Contracosta'' 1886

References

External links