Hermes de Oliveira Castanhas was born 94 years ago in Vilarinho do Bairro, Anadia. He graduated in Medicine from the University of Coimbra in 1960. He specialised in Gynaecology and Obstetrics at the Alfredo da Costa Maternity Hospital in Lisbon, and practised at the Bissaya Barreto Maternity Hospital in Coimbra, and at the hospitals in Águeda and Aveiro.
Alongside his passionate practice of his profession, he was also a collector of objects and instruments related to the history of medicine, having contributed significantly to its understanding and dissemination — first at the Dr. Hermes House-Museum and today at Skope – Museum of Medicine and Health.
In the video we are sharing today, he talks about one of the first items he acquired for his collection: a white doctor’s stamp — an object that symbolises the beginning of a passion that would go on to become an important collection dedicated to the history of medicine in Portugal.
Today we commemorate the memory and legacy of a doctor, collector and humanist who believed deeply in the value of knowledge, culture and the preservation of history.