Bartolomeu de Gusmão

Bartolomeu de Gusmão
Painting of Bartolomeu de Gusmão by Benedito Calixto
BornDecember 1685
Santos, São Paulo, Colonial Brazil, Portugal
Died18 November 1724(1724-11-18) (aged 38)
Toledo, Spain
Known forAirship design
Notable workHot air balloon, Passarola, Water elevation system
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Bartolomeu Lourenço de Gusmão (December 1685 – 18 November 1724) was a Catholic priest and naturalist born in colonial Brazil, who was a pioneer of lighter-than-air aerostat design, being among the first scholars at that time to understand the operational principles of the hot air balloon and to build a functional prototype of such a device. He is also one of the main characters in Nobel Prize-winning José Saramago's Baltasar and Blimunda.

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