Foundation - Fundação Casa Hermes

About

The history of the Casa Hermes Foundation begins with a doctor from the Portuguese city of Aveiro, Hermes de Oliveira Castanhas (1932–2015), who devoted his life to gynaecology and obstetrics with the same passion and dedication that he applied to collecting medical artefacts.

He had a diverse range of interests, but the history of medicine was his main focus. He wanted to know more about the history and stories behind the items he collected, to learn about the past lives of doctors and health professionals and to share his knowledge. It was a passion that became a lifelong mission.

Through each object, the knowledge gained over five decades has been a constant. First in exhibitions dedicated to the history of medicine and later in the Dr. Hermes House Museum, the family’s private museum in Aveiro since the 1990s.

In 2018, following the passing of the founder, it was left to the family to rethink the future of the collection and the Dr. Hermes House Museum, with the aim of giving continuity to the project that had begun, ennobling it and broadening its purpose.

It was mainly the desire to preserve the integrity of the collection that hastened the decision to create the Casa Hermes Foundation. This foundation was established to continue the legacy represented by the medical collection while promoting, developing and supporting initiatives of a cultural, scientific and social nature in the following fields: the protection and promotion of the historical, artistic and natural heritage, education, research, health, disease prevention and control, the promotion of entrepreneurship, innovation and development, and charity and social solidarity.

In 2020, work began on designing Skope – the new Health and Medicine Museum, or Museu de Medicina e Saúde in Portuguese. Skope is an ambitious project that has been developed within the framework of the Casa Hermes Foundation and based on the collection of the Dr. Hermes House Museum. The narrative of the history of medicine and the appreciation and sharing of the collection are now accompanied by the desire to promote health education.

In addition to its educational aspect, the Casa Hermes Foundation bases its activity on key pillars in the areas of education and training, research and social responsibility, strengthening health literacy and recognising the value of the groups to which it dedicates its efforts.

Strategic pillars

Academia

Research

Community

The founder

Hermes de Oliveira Castanhas (1932–2015) was born in Vilarinho do Bairro, Anadia, Portugal on 16 March 1932. He studied medicine at the University of Coimbra and graduated in 1960, after which he was mobilised to Angola as a militia doctor between 1962 and 1964. He specialised in gynaecology and obstetrics at the Alfredo da Costa Maternity Hospital in Lisbon, and practised in the Byssaia Barreto Maternity Hospital in Coimbra, as well as in the hospitals of Águeda and Aveiro.

The objects he collected, which he liked to call “perfections of the past”, told stories that fascinated him so much that what began as a hobby soon became a mission: to learn more and share the fruits of his knowledge.

He travelled tirelessly up and down the country, visiting exhibitions, antique fairs and antique shops, in a never-ending quest for anything that might reveal new information about the history of medicine.

In the pursuit of his dream, he was accompanied by his wife Lena Marília Castanhas, a biologist, teacher, and naturally curious person, who helped him with all aspects related to the collection and its promotion. As a man of science, he was deeply committed to the project, convinced that the most rewarding thing of all is to expand the horizons of knowledge and then to share it.

In 1993, having been recognised as a collector, Hermes de Oliveira Castanhas was appointed a member of the Medical History Group of EAGO – European Association of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians, since renamed EBCOG – European Board & College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

“…we must know the wrinkles of the past to know the face of the present. This is the life lesson we have learned and is the ultimate reason to publish and publicise our efforts.”

Hermes de Oliveira Castanhas

Founders and partners

Companies and organisations that support the Casa Hermes Foundation and its projects within the sphere of knowledge, research and health education.

Founders

Health Partner

Scientific Partners

Technological Partner

Community Partner

Skilled volunteers