The eldest son of Portuguese Lieutenant José Martins da Cruz Jobim and his first wife, Eugênia Rosa Pereira Fortes, José Martins da Cruz Jobim was born in the city of Rio Pardo in the then province of Rio Grande do Sul on February 26, 1802. One of his siblings was Antônio Martins da Cruz Jobim, who later was bestowed the title of Barão de Cambaí (Baron of Cambaí).
Born into an impoverished family, he was still a young boy when they decided to move to Rio de Janeiro to afford him a better education and enrolled at the now defunct Seminário Episcopal de São José (Saint Joseph Episcopal Seminar). He would go on to become a physician, professor, and politician in the 19th century, in addition to being one of the pioneers of Brazilian psychiatry.
Alongside his peers Joaquim Candido Soares de Meirelles, Luiz Vicente de Simoni, José Francisco Xavier Sigaud, and Jean Maurice Faivre, Jobim was one of the founders of the Medical Society of Rio de Janeiro, established in 1829 and later renamed the Imperial Academy of Medicine. He served as its President in the 3rd quarter of 1831 and in the 3rd and 4th quarters of 1834. He also held the same position at the Imperial Academy of Medicine for two terms: 1839-1840, and 1848-1851.
In 1830, Jobim married São Paulo State-born Maria Amélia Marcondes do Amaral and the couple had seven children. One of them, Luiza Marcondes Jobim, wed Vicente Cândido Figueira Sabóia, afterwards granted the title of Visconde de Sabóia (Viscount of Sabóia), who led the Academia Nacional de Medicina (National Academy of Medicine – ANM) from 1891 to 1892. He holds the patronship of Chair Number 63.
Dr. Cruz Jobim traveled to France in 1821 and enrolled at the Faculty of Medicine of Montpellier, France, after which time he transferred to the Faculty of Medicine of Paris, France. He graduated in physical sciences in 1826, and in medicine in 1828.
On March 5, 1828, upon returning to Brazil, the physician secured a position at the Santa Casa da Misericórdia General Hospital of Rio de Janeiro, where he ran one of its wards. He became one of the institution’s main doctors and resigned in 1859. The following year, Dr. Cruz Jobim was bestowed the title of the first and sole Honorary Physician of the hospital.
The celebrated physician additionally held a private medical practice located in the neighborhood of Lapa in the city of Rio de Janeiro.
Furthermore, Dr. José Martins da Cruz Jobim composed several committees established under the Medical Society of Rio de Janeiro, and in 1830, was designated to fulfill the role of Rapporteur of the Comissão de Salubridade (Health Commission), entrusted with the task of assessing sanitary conditions of prisons, hospitals, orphanages, and mental institutions.
The same year, he joined a House of Representatives-established committee in charge of devising a plan for medical schools. Called the “Plan to Establish the Empire’s Medical Schools,” the resulting project was drafted by the Medical Society of Rio de Janeiro, following an invitation by the House of Representatives on October 7, 1830. Dr. Cruz Jobim was tasked with the mission of presenting the document to the Imperial House of Representatives, and the project was voted on and approved.
A topic of particular interest for Brazilian neuropsychiatry in the early 19th century was the intersection between infectious diseases, poverty, and mental illness. Dr. Cruz Jobim employed a sanitary approach based on symptomatic and anatomical pathology-related research studies to tackle the issue. In 1831, he penned “Insânia Ioquaz” (“Loquacious Insanity”), the first-ever paper written on mental illness in Brazil, based on clinical and pathological data consistent with tuberculous meningitis. Thus, Jobim is deemed one of the pioneers in the field of psychiatry in Brazil and fully deserves the title of the first Brazilian neuropsychiatrist.
At Rio de Janeiro’s School of Medicine, Dr. Cruz Jobim worked as a Lecturer in the subjects of Legal Medicine and Toxicology between 1833 and 1854, in addition to serving as its President from 1842 to 1872. He was honored and retired as head of the institution in 1872.
In 1844, the acclaimed physician traveled to Naples, Italy, as a private envoy of Emperor Dom Pedro II, with the aim of representing the country at the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Upon his return to Brazil, he was appointed as a physician to escort the Emperor on his first trip to the Brazilian Empire’s southernmost provinces. During this time, in the city of Porto Alegre, he was designated to compose the Council of the Royal Family.
Moreover, Dr. Cruz Jobim served as a Congressman in the 7th and 8th legislatures for the province of – now the State of – Rio Grande do Sul from 1849 to 1851. Also, he was voted a Senator of the Empire, representing the province of – and now the State of – Espírito Santo in 1851, a position he assumed on May 6, 1851, and which he held until his death in 1878.
Dr. Cruz Jobim further served as an Advisor to the Emperor and as a Correspondent Member of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Naples, Italy, and Lisbon, Portugal, in addition to being honored with the Order of the Rose and the Order of Christ, as well as the Imperial Order of Saint Stanislaus of Russia.
Dr. José Martins da Cruz Jobim passed away in the city of Rio de Janeiro on August 23, 1878.
His obituary was written by his colleague José Eduardo Teixeira de Souza, the official Speaker of the Imperial Academy of Medicine, on June 30, 1879, during a session held to celebrate the institution’s fiftieth anniversary.
Among the numerous tributes and honors paid to José Martins da Cruz Jobim, some particularly worth mentioning include a commemorative stamp issued for the 150th anniversary of his birth by the Brazilian Post and Telegraph Corporation (law number 1.671 of September 12, 1952), as well as the renaming of Rua Constantino Alves street in the neighborhood of Irajá, Rio de Janeiro, to Rua Cruz Jobim street (decree number 5.224 of April 5, 1935).
Acad. Francisco Sampaio
Academic number: 5
Chair: 41
Chair honored: 41
Member: Fundador
Section: Medicina
Election: 28/05/1829
Inauguration: 30/06/1829
President: Joaquim Candido Soares de Meirelles
Division (Patron): Medicina
Death: 23/08/1878
Academic number: 5
Chair: 41
Chair honored: 41
Member: Fundador
Section: Medicina
Election: 28/05/1829
Inauguration: 30/06/1829
President: Joaquim Candido Soares de Meirelles
Division (Patron): Medicina
Death: 23/08/1878
The eldest son of Portuguese Lieutenant José Martins da Cruz Jobim and his first wife, Eugênia Rosa Pereira Fortes, José Martins da Cruz Jobim was born in the city of Rio Pardo in the then province of Rio Grande do Sul on February 26, 1802. One of his siblings was Antônio Martins da Cruz Jobim, who later was bestowed the title of Barão de Cambaí (Baron of Cambaí).
Born into an impoverished family, he was still a young boy when they decided to move to Rio de Janeiro to afford him a better education and enrolled at the now defunct Seminário Episcopal de São José (Saint Joseph Episcopal Seminar). He would go on to become a physician, professor, and politician in the 19th century, in addition to being one of the pioneers of Brazilian psychiatry.
Alongside his peers Joaquim Candido Soares de Meirelles, Luiz Vicente de Simoni, José Francisco Xavier Sigaud, and Jean Maurice Faivre, Jobim was one of the founders of the Medical Society of Rio de Janeiro, established in 1829 and later renamed the Imperial Academy of Medicine. He served as its President in the 3rd quarter of 1831 and in the 3rd and 4th quarters of 1834. He also held the same position at the Imperial Academy of Medicine for two terms: 1839-1840, and 1848-1851.
In 1830, Jobim married São Paulo State-born Maria Amélia Marcondes do Amaral and the couple had seven children. One of them, Luiza Marcondes Jobim, wed Vicente Cândido Figueira Sabóia, afterwards granted the title of Visconde de Sabóia (Viscount of Sabóia), who led the Academia Nacional de Medicina (National Academy of Medicine – ANM) from 1891 to 1892. He holds the patronship of Chair Number 63.
Dr. Cruz Jobim traveled to France in 1821 and enrolled at the Faculty of Medicine of Montpellier, France, after which time he transferred to the Faculty of Medicine of Paris, France. He graduated in physical sciences in 1826, and in medicine in 1828.
On March 5, 1828, upon returning to Brazil, the physician secured a position at the Santa Casa da Misericórdia General Hospital of Rio de Janeiro, where he ran one of its wards. He became one of the institution’s main doctors and resigned in 1859. The following year, Dr. Cruz Jobim was bestowed the title of the first and sole Honorary Physician of the hospital.
The celebrated physician additionally held a private medical practice located in the neighborhood of Lapa in the city of Rio de Janeiro.
Furthermore, Dr. José Martins da Cruz Jobim composed several committees established under the Medical Society of Rio de Janeiro, and in 1830, was designated to fulfill the role of Rapporteur of the Comissão de Salubridade (Health Commission), entrusted with the task of assessing sanitary conditions of prisons, hospitals, orphanages, and mental institutions.
The same year, he joined a House of Representatives-established committee in charge of devising a plan for medical schools. Called the “Plan to Establish the Empire’s Medical Schools,” the resulting project was drafted by the Medical Society of Rio de Janeiro, following an invitation by the House of Representatives on October 7, 1830. Dr. Cruz Jobim was tasked with the mission of presenting the document to the Imperial House of Representatives, and the project was voted on and approved.
A topic of particular interest for Brazilian neuropsychiatry in the early 19th century was the intersection between infectious diseases, poverty, and mental illness. Dr. Cruz Jobim employed a sanitary approach based on symptomatic and anatomical pathology-related research studies to tackle the issue. In 1831, he penned “Insânia Ioquaz” (“Loquacious Insanity”), the first-ever paper written on mental illness in Brazil, based on clinical and pathological data consistent with tuberculous meningitis. Thus, Jobim is deemed one of the pioneers in the field of psychiatry in Brazil and fully deserves the title of the first Brazilian neuropsychiatrist.
At Rio de Janeiro’s School of Medicine, Dr. Cruz Jobim worked as a Lecturer in the subjects of Legal Medicine and Toxicology between 1833 and 1854, in addition to serving as its President from 1842 to 1872. He was honored and retired as head of the institution in 1872.
In 1844, the acclaimed physician traveled to Naples, Italy, as a private envoy of Emperor Dom Pedro II, with the aim of representing the country at the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Upon his return to Brazil, he was appointed as a physician to escort the Emperor on his first trip to the Brazilian Empire’s southernmost provinces. During this time, in the city of Porto Alegre, he was designated to compose the Council of the Royal Family.
Moreover, Dr. Cruz Jobim served as a Congressman in the 7th and 8th legislatures for the province of – now the State of – Rio Grande do Sul from 1849 to 1851. Also, he was voted a Senator of the Empire, representing the province of – and now the State of – Espírito Santo in 1851, a position he assumed on May 6, 1851, and which he held until his death in 1878.
Dr. Cruz Jobim further served as an Advisor to the Emperor and as a Correspondent Member of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Naples, Italy, and Lisbon, Portugal, in addition to being honored with the Order of the Rose and the Order of Christ, as well as the Imperial Order of Saint Stanislaus of Russia.
Dr. José Martins da Cruz Jobim passed away in the city of Rio de Janeiro on August 23, 1878.
His obituary was written by his colleague José Eduardo Teixeira de Souza, the official Speaker of the Imperial Academy of Medicine, on June 30, 1879, during a session held to celebrate the institution’s fiftieth anniversary.
Among the numerous tributes and honors paid to José Martins da Cruz Jobim, some particularly worth mentioning include a commemorative stamp issued for the 150th anniversary of his birth by the Brazilian Post and Telegraph Corporation (law number 1.671 of September 12, 1952), as well as the renaming of Rua Constantino Alves street in the neighborhood of Irajá, Rio de Janeiro, to Rua Cruz Jobim street (decree number 5.224 of April 5, 1935).
Acad. Francisco Sampaio