Alfredo Bensaúde was one of the most illustrious Azoreans in history. Mineralogist, engineer and university professor, he stood out for being the founder and first director of the Instituto Superior Técnico (Higher Technical Institute).
Born on 4th March 1856, in the city of Ponta Delgada, to a well-off family, he went on to study in Germany, where he did his preparatory studies at the Higher Technical School of Hanover, graduating as a mining engineer in 1879, at the Clausthal Mining School. In 1881 he gained a PhD in Mineralogy at the University of Göttingen and was awarded a gold medal.
On his return to Portugal, he joined the Geological Services and, in 1884, he went to teach Mineralogy and Geology at the Industrial and Commercial Institute of Lisbon, a mission in which he stood out due to the introduction of new pedagogical practices, acquired in his German experience.
In 1892 he put forward a project to reform technological education, which was not carried out as it was considered too innovative. However, a few years later the Minister for Development, Brito Camacho, took that project into consideration, creating the Instituto Superior Técnico (Higher Technical Institute) in 1911 and inviting Alfredo Bensaúde to be its organiser and director, a mission he held until 1920. This institution became the first public school with pedagogical and administrative autonomy.
In 1922, he returned to São Miguel Island, where he took over the family business, devoting himself equally to the manufacture of violins and writing, having published, among other studies, the “Notas Historico-Pedagógicas sobre o Instituto Superior Técnico”.
With numerous published works, namely in the field of geology and mineralogy, his work was acknowledged by the Portuguese Republic. He was made Grand Officer of the Military Order of Sant’Iago da Espada in 1929 and Grand Officer of the Order of Public Instruction in 1936.
Alfredo Bensaúde died on 1st January 1941, in Ponta Delgada.