Portugal 2394

     The Sociedade de Geografia de Lisboa was founded in 1875 by Luciano Cordeiro de Sousa. Later he also created the Portuguese National Commission of Exploration and Civilization of Africa. In 1877 an expedition led by Roberto Ivens, Alexandre Alberto da Rocha de Serpa Pinto (Serpa Pinto), and Hermenegildo Carlos de Brito Capello (Hermenegildo Capello) left Luanda and traveled to the Bié region in Angola where Serpa Pinto left the expedition and explored the Cuanza and Zambezi rivers.

     In 1884 he and Hermenegildo Capello left from Moçamades on the coast of Angola and crossed the African continent to Quelimane on the east coast of Moçambique in 1885. He was the first explorer to accurately describe the route between Bihe and Lialui.

     In 2003 Portugal issued a pair of stamps to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the founding of the Society. From left to right the stamp shows a 15 year old Hemba girl from Angola drawn by Ivens; a transit, and a sextant for navigation and for mapping routes and positions; the logo or seal of the Society; a picture of Serpa Pinto from a picture taken in 1846; a map of a part of Angola in the regions of Quipungo and Quihita (probably near Huila) made in 1884; and a picture of zebras, both by Ivens.

Special thanks to Helena Grego and Cristina Matias
of the Library of the Sociedade de Geografia de Lisboa
for most of the information used above.