José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva (; 13 June 17636 April 1838) was a Brazilian statesman, naturalist, mineralist, professor and poet, born in Santos, São Paulo, then part of the Portuguese Empire. He was one of the most important mentors of Brazilian independence, and his actions were decisive for the success of Emperor Pedro I. He supported public education, was an abolitionist and suggested that a new national capital be created in Brazil's underdeveloped interior (effected over a century later as Brasília). His career as naturalist was marked by the discovery of four new minerals. Life In 1800, Andrada e Silva was appointed professor of geology at Coimbra, and soon after inspector-general of the Portuguese mines; and in 1812 he was made perpetual secretary of the Lisbon Academy of Sciences. Returning to the colony in 1819, he urged Dom Pedro I to resist the recall of the Lisbon court, and was appointed one of his ministers in 1821. When the independence of Brazil was declared, Andrada e Silva became minister of the interior and of foreign affairs; and when it was established, he was again elected by the Constituent Assembly. He was also the author of the abolition project in Brazil, presented to the Constituent Assembly in 1823. But his democratic principles resulted in his dismissal from office in July 1823. Career in Europe José Bonifácio spent part of his life in Europe. In his travels around Europe he studied chemistry and mineralogy with other scientists. He collected data, carried out scientific experiments and discovered four new minerals and eight previously unknown species. The mineral andradite is named for him. Among his other discoveries was petalite, a lithium-containing material, first discovered by Andrade toward the end of the 18th century on a trip to Sweden; it was in this mineral that Swedish chemists first discovered lithium. He also was the first to discover another important lithium-containing mineral, spodumene, from the same source, the island of Utö in the Stockholm Archipelago of Sweden. In 1797 he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Andrada e Silva graduated with degrees in Law and Natural Philosophy from Coimbra, he joined the Academia das Ciências de Lisboa (Science Academy of Lisbon). He taught Geognosy at the University of Coimbra in Portugal. Knowing twelve languages, he could speak four. Return to Brazil In 1819, he travelled back to Brazil where