October 12th is a historical and very significant date. In addition to the “discovery of America”, it is Children's Day and the day that honors the Patron Saint of Brazil – Our Lady of Aparecida. Furthermore, for those who studied at Escola de Minas de Ouro Preto, this is an almost sacred date, this year celebrating the 148th anniversary of its foundation.
The importance of this date was created around the image of the School's founder: Claude Henri Gorceix.
Guy G (2012), wrote that¨ in the second part of the 19th century, Gorceix was an actor of globalization¨ and adds that: ¨globalization as the set of economic and sociocultural processes that facilitate relationships throughout the world¨. His information was complemented by trips made as a researcher and teacher.
After a brief stint as a teacher at the Lyceum of Angoulême, Gorceix was entrusted with a scientific mission to Greece (École Française de Athenas and 1869), and to Turkey, where he studied volcanism, which gave him good geological knowledge.
In 1831, Henri Gorceix arrived in Brazil, and by means of Auguste Daubrée, director of the Paris School of Mines, recommended to the Emperor Dom Pedro II that he should lay the foundations of mineralogical studies in the country, whereby engineers could be trained. He was 31 years old at the time. Idea accepted, he chose Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, to begin this task. Created by decree of November 6, 1875, the Escola de Minas was inaugurated on October 12, 1876.
Gorceix left his mark in Ouro Preto by proposing and wanting to participate in improving grade school education; proposing the use of electricity in the city; and giving an opinion on the government's economic policy: In my opinion, and in principal admissible for all, every industrial company of whatsoever nature should encounter in the Government all possible animation and assistance possible. Thus, as the first consequence of this principal, the administration should not hinder in any way a private initiative, either by laws presented to the Parliament or by regulations that should govern the implementation of these laws. Especially, they should neither become very costly for the private companies nor should it become very difficult to obtain the amount needed to execute the projects. But the most important thing was the mark left on each student who passed through the classrooms at Escola de Minas. This still happens today, 148 years later.
References
- ROYER, G. Claude-Henri Gorceix: Du Brėsil à Bujaleuf, une ouvre génereuse, 2012, 38 p.
Publication Dates
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Publication in this collection
06 Sept 2024 -
Date of issue
Oct-Dec 2024
