wrote one of the first textbooks on biology for secondary education, which became a best-seller and was published in many editions. In all, he published 26 textbooks and 17 guides for science and biology teachers. For these efforts, he won the UNESCO Kalinga Prize for the Popularisation of Science and the CNPq José Reis Award for the Divulgation of Science. He was also decorated by the Brazilian government with the Great Cross of the Brazilian Order of Scientific Merit and was awarded the 1989 Alfred Jurzikowyski Prize of the Brazilian Academy of Medicine, for relevant basic research for medicine. Bibliography Vianna-Morgante AM, Azevedo ES, Otto PA, Opitz JM. Encomium: Oswaldo Frota-Pessoa. Am J Med Genet. 1996 Jun 28;63(4):581–4. Frota-Pessoa, O. 1957. The estimation of the size of isolates based on census data. Am. J. Hum. Genet. vol. 9, pp. 9–16. Frota-Pessoa, O. 1961. On the number of the gene loci and the total mutation rate in man. Amer. Nat. vol. 45, p. 217–222. Martello, N., Santos, J.L.F. and Frota-Pessoa, O. 1978. Risks of manifestation of Huntington chorea. J. Génét. Humaine, vol. 26, pp. 33–35. Mosalve, M.V., Erdmann, B., Otto, P.A. and Frota-Pessoa, O. 1980. The human Y chromosome: racial variation and evolution. Rev. Bras. Genet. vol. 3, p. 433–446. Zatz M., Betti R.T., Frota-Pessoa O. Treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy with growth hormone inhibitors. Am J Med Genet. 1986 Jul;24(3):549–66. External links Biography. Brazilian Academy of Sciences. Obituary (Portuguese) 1917 births 2010 deaths 20th-century scientists Brazilian geneticists Recipients of the Great Cross of the National Order of Scientific Merit (Brazil) Brazilian science writers Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni Federal University of Rio de Janeiro faculty Members of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences Writers from Rio de Janeiro (city) Place of death missing University of São Paulo faculty University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty Rio de Janeiro State University alumni Kalinga Prize recipients