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{{short description|Portuguese physician (1844–1900)}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| name = José Gerson da Cunha
| birth_place = [[Arpora]], [[Goa]], [[Portuguese India]]
| birth_date = {{birth date|1844|2|2|df=y}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|1900|8|3|1844|2|2|df=y}}
| death_place =
| alma_mater = [[University of Bombay]]
| occupation = {{hlist|Physician|indologist|historian|linguisti}}
| spouse = Ana Rita da Gama
| children = 3
| relatives = {{ubl|
* [[Gerson da Cunha]] (nephew)
* [[Sylvester da Cunha]] (nephew)}}
| honours = {{ubl|
* [[Order of St. Gregory the Great]]
* [[Order of Saint James of the Sword]]
* [[Order of the Crown of Italy]]}}
}}

'''José Gerson da Cunha''' [[Order of the Crown of Italy|OCI]] (2 February 1844 – 3 August 1900) was a Portuguese physician who achieved international renown as an [[indologist]], [[historian]], [[Linguistics|linguist]] and [[Numismatics|numismatist]].

==Early life and medical career==
José Gerson da Cunha was born in [[Arpora]], [[Bardes]] on 2 February 1844, the eldest of twelve children to a [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] couple, Francisco Caetano da Cunha and Leopoldina Maria Gonçalves.<ref name="Vaz1">{{harvnb|Vaz|1997|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=7DJLxYBYA-YC&pg=PA118 118]}}</ref><ref name="Cunha Rivara"/> Francisco was an infantry lieutenant in the Portuguese army stationed in [[Goa]] who had taken part in the military campaign against the [[Maratha Empire|Marathas]] at Uspa and Rarim in [[Savantvadi]].<ref name="Cunha Rivara"/>

Da Cunha did his primary studies and study of [[humanities]] in [[Panjim]].<ref name="Arpora">{{harvnb|Naval and Military Medical Services|1900|p=781}}</ref> He then moved to [[Bombay]] and enrolled in the [[Grant Medical College and Sir Jamshedjee Jeejeebhoy Group of Hospitals|Grant Medical College]] to pursue his [[Medical humanities|medical studies]].<ref name="Konkani1">{{harvnb|Sardesai|2000|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=1YILeUD_oZUC&pg=PA96 96]}}</ref> While there, da Cunha distinguished himself by winning many prizes.<ref name="Vaz1"/> However, he failed to obtain his licentiate in medicine, and instead obtained the first licentiate degree from the [[University of Mumbai|University of Bombay]] in 1864.<ref name="Konkani1"/> He moved to London in 1867 to obtain his degree and in the same year, obtained the diplomas of [[Conjoint|L.R.C.P.]] Lond. and [[Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons|M.R.C.S]] Eng.<ref name="Arpora"/><ref name="Konkani1"/> Cunha specialised in [[obstetrics]] at [[Edinburgh]] and London.<ref name="Vaz1"/> He returned to Bombay in 1868, where he soon acquired a large practice.<ref name="Arpora"/>

==Works==
Da Cunha wrote several papers on obstetrics which attracted much attention at the Medico-Physical Society of Bombay.<ref name="Arpora"/> After an epidemic of [[dengue]] in the city, he wrote an essay on dengue entitled ''Dengue: its history, symptoms and treatment''.<ref name="Arpora"/> Besides medicine, Cunha's interest spanned across diverse subjects such as history, [[archaeology]], [[linguistics]], [[numismatics]] and Sanskritology (study of [[Sanskrit]]).<ref name="Konkani1"/> He wrote and distinguished himself more by creating works of historical value on these subjects.<ref name="Vaz2"/> Besides papers, he was the author of 20 books on these subjects.<ref name="Arpora"/> His decision to write his works in English gained him greater recognition amongst English readers than those by Goan authors who had chosen to write on these subjects only in [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]].<ref name="Vaz2"/>

===History===
Da Cunha wrote the first book on the history of Bombay, ''The Origin of Bombay'' which was published posthumously by the Bombay branch of the [[Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland|Royal Asiatic Society]] in 1900.<ref name="cun">{{harvnb|Chatterjee|2003|loc=|Ref=sin}}</ref> His other best known historical works include ''Memoir on the history of the tooth-relic of Ceylon''; with a preliminary essay on [[Gautama Buddha]] ''The life and system of Gautama Buddha'' (1875), ''Historical and Archeological Sketch of the Island of Angediva'' (1875), and ''The History and Antiquities of Chaul and Bassein'' (1876).

===Linguistics===
Da Cunha was inspired by the Portuguese civil servant [[Joaquim Heliodoro da Cunha Rivara]]'s efforts to revive [[Konkani language|Konkani]] in Goa.<ref name="Konkani1"/> In 1881, he wrote a scholarly work on the language entitled ''The Konkani Language and Literature'', wherein he discussed its origin and issues. Using the arguments of the [[Philosophy of language|Language theory]], he demonstrated that Konkani was an independent language in its own right with its own dialects, such as ''Kudali'', ''Goadesi'' and the southern form.<ref name="Vaz2"/><ref name="Literature">{{harvnb|Das|1991|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=sHklK65TKQ0C&pg=PA139 139]}}</ref> Cunha concluded that while Konkani bears close similarities to [[Marathi language|Marathi]], it is quite distinct, though cognate with Marathi, and has a predominance of Sanskrit words and a faint Turanian or [[Dravidian languages|Dravidian]] element.<ref name="Konkani2"/><ref name="Kodialgar">{{harvnb|George|Akademi|1992|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=m1R2Pa3f7r0C&pg=PA208 208]}}</ref> It possesses an elaborate grammar of its own and a rich vocabulary which is derived from various sources (Sanskrit, [[Persian language|Persian]], [[Kannada language|Kannada]] and Portuguese, with all the contributing elements having lost their autonomy in the course of time and becoming so fused together that only a careful analysis can discover their [[etymology]].<ref name="Konkani2"/><ref name="Kodialgar"/>

Da Cunha was greatly concerned with the increasing corruption of Konkani's purity, as he felt that the incorporation of Portuguese, Persian, Kannada, and Marathi loanwords were distancing the language from its original source, Sanskrit.<ref name="Konkani2">{{harvnb|Sardesai|2000|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=1YILeUD_oZUC&pg=PA97 97]}}</ref> He further had serious misgivings about the language's future. In ''The Konkani Language and Literature'', he states:<ref name="Konkani3">{{harvnb|Sardesai|2000|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=1YILeUD_oZUC&pg=PA98 98]}}</ref>
{{blockquote|text=It is only an autonomous country that can preserve its language in a state of purity, and it is to its literature or rather to the learned men of that country is confided the task of rendering its forms classic and unalterable. But Goa has for centuries been swayed by foreign rulers who have insisted on making their own language the official language, or the language of the court, withdrawing, at the same time, all encouragement for the cultivation of the native tongue. Under these circumstances it is no wonder that Konkani has been treated with neglect by the very children of the soil, and has, from the absence of a norm to regulate its forms, dwindled into the state of a jargon, or ''[[patois]]''. Add to this internal disorganisation the power and vitality of the neighbouring tongues, and one need not be a prophet to foretell that in the course of a century or two, the Konkani language will be encroached upon by the Marathi from the North, and the Kanarese from the South, a movement that has already begun, when Konkani must succumb to the struggle. This has happened before; and it will happen again: for such is the fate of all weak tongues as also of weak peoples.}}

===Numismatics===
Da Cunha was an avid coin collector. He began collecting coins in 1876 and in addition to his own collection, purchased the collections of James Gibbs and Bhau Dhaji.<ref name="Vaz2"/> By 1888, his personal collection had expanded to include over 27,000 pieces of gold, silver, and other metals.<ref name="Vaz2"/> The collection of coins catalogued by da Cunha was generally believed to be among the best in the [[British Empire]].<ref name="Arpora"/> This catalogue was published in Bombay in 1888.<ref name="Vaz2"/> He wrote a book on numismatics, ''Indo-Portuguese Numismatics'' which was published in 1956 by ''Agencia Geral do Ultramar'' in [[Lisbon]]. This work is generally believed to be one of the few valuable studies in this field.<ref name="Vaz2"/>

==Associations==
In view of his work, da Cunha acquired significant fame as an Orientalist and was invited to International seminars and conferences.<ref name="Konkani1"/> In addition to his affiliation with various medical associations in Bombay, his prolific contributions to Indian history and linguistics earned him the fellowship of the ''Instituto Vasco da Gama'' in Goa in 1871, and of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bombay in 1873.<ref name="Vaz2"/> He received a prize at the Congress of Orientalists in [[Florence]] in 1877, and was a prominent figure at the Twelfth Congress held in Rome in 1899.<ref name="Arpora"/> In the latter conference, da Cunha was hailed by the [[Angelo de Gubernatis|Count Angelo de Gubernatis]] as the "leading Orientalist of the day".<ref name="Vaz2"/> He served as president of the Bombay chapters of the Royal Asiatic Society and the Anthropological Society.<ref name="Arpora"/> He was a Knight of the [[Order of the Crown of Italy]], of the [[Order of St. Gregory the Great]], and of the [[Order of Saint James of the Sword]].<ref name="Arpora"/>

==Personal life==
Da Cunha was married to Ana Rita da Gama.<ref name="Cunha Rivara">{{harvnb|da Cunha Rivara|Borges|da Cunha Soares|1996|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=vnKEgXtNHt0C&pg=PA284 284]}}</ref> They had two daughters and a son. His grandson EPW da Costa was a pioneer of opinion polling in India. Da Cunha was a [[Polyglot (person)|hyperpolyglot]], possessing knowledge of Konkani, Marathi, Portuguese, Italian, French, English, German, [[Middle Persian|Pahlavi]], [[Persian language|Persian]], [[Latin]] and Sanskrit.<ref name="Vaz2">{{harvnb|Vaz|1997|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=7DJLxYBYA-YC&pg=PA119 119]}}</ref>

==Bibliography==
*{{Cite book
|year=1872
|title=Dengue, its history, symptoms, and treatment: with observations on the epidemic which prevailed in Bombay during the years 1871–72
|publisher=Thacker & Co.
}}
*{{Cite book
|year=1875
|title=Historical and Archeological Sketch of the Island of Angediva
|publisher=Thacker & Co.
}}
*{{Cite book
|year=1875
|title=Memoir on the history of the tooth-relic of Ceylon; with a preliminary essay on the life and system of Gautama Buddha
|publisher=Thacker & Co.
}}
*{{Cite book
|year=1876
|title=The History and Antiquities of Chaul and Bassein
|publisher=Thacker & Co.
}}
*{{Cite book
|year=1877
|title=The Sahyadri–khanda of the Skanda purama: a mythological, historical, and geographical account of western India ; first edition of the Sanskrit texts with various readings
|publisher=Thacker & Co.
}}
*{{Cite book
|year=1881
|title=The Konkani language and literature
|publisher=Bombay Gazzetteer
}}
*{{Cite book
|year=1883
|title=Contributions to the study of Indo-Portuguese numismatics
|publisher=Thacker & Co.
}}
*{{Cite book
|year=1900
|title=The origin of Bombay
|publisher=Royal Asiatic Society
}}
*{{Cite book
|year=1956
|title=Indo-Portuguese Numismatics
|publisher=Agência Geral do Ultramar
}}

==Citations==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==
{{refbegin|2}}
*{{Citation
|last=Chatterjee
|first=Sudeshna
|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-toi/Family-Matters/articleshow/154584.cms
|title=Family Matters
|work=[[The Times of India]]
|date=31 August 2003
|ref=sin
|access-date=15 April 2011
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110704162738/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-toi/Family-Matters/articleshow/154584.cms
|archive-date=4 July 2011
}}.
*{{Cite book
|last3=da Cunha Soares
|first3=Renato
|last2=Borges
|first2=Charles J.
|last1=da Cunha Rivara
|first1=Joaquim Heliodoró
|editor3-last=da Cunha Soares
|editor3-first=Renato
|editor2-last=Borges
|editor2-first=Charles J.
|editor1-last=da Cunha Rivara
|editor1-first=Joaquim Heliodoró
|authorlink1=Joaquim Heliodoró da Cunha Rivara
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vnKEgXtNHt0C
|title=Goa and the revolt of 1787
|publisher=Concept Publishing Company
|year=1996
|isbn=978-81-7022-646-8
|access-date=15 April 2011}}
*{{Cite book
|last=Das
|first=Sisir Kumar
|year=1991
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sHklK65TKQ0C
|title=A history of Indian literature: 1800–1910 Western impact: Indian response
|publisher=Sahitya Akademi
|isbn=978-81-7201-006-5
|access-date=15 April 2011}}
*{{Cite book
|last=Derrett
|first=John Duncan Martin
|year=1976
|url=https://archive.org/details/essaysinclassica0001derr
|url-access=registration
|title=Essays in Classical and Modern Hindu Law: Consequences of the intellectual exchange with the foreign powers
|publisher=BRILL
|isbn=978-90-04-04808-9
|access-date=15 April 2011}}
*{{Cite book
|last2=Akademi
|first2=Sahitya
|last1=George
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|editor2-last=Akademi
|editor2-first=Sahitya
|editor1-last=George
|editor1-first=K. M.
|authorlink1=K. M. George (writer)
|year=1992
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m1R2Pa3f7r0C
|title=Modern Indian Literature—An Anthology; Volume 2—Fiction
|publisher=Sahitya Akademi
|isbn=978-81-7201-324-0
|access-date=15 April 2011}}
*{{Citation
|last=Mascarenhas
|first=Nascimento
|url=http://www.saligaoserenade.com/2008/08/06/establishing-ones-roots/
|title=Establishing one's roots
|publisher=Saligao Seranade
|date=6 August 2008
|ref=cun
|access-date=15 April 2011
|url-status=usurped
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006053814/http://www.saligaoserenade.com/2008/08/06/establishing-ones-roots/
|archive-date=6 October 2011
}}.
*{{Citation
|last=Mascarenhas
|first=Nascimento
|url=http://www.saligaoserenade.com/2010/12/05/what-are-goa%E2%80%99s-villages-famous-for/
|title=What Are Goa's Villages Famous For?
|publisher=Saligao Seranade
|date=5 December 2010
|ref=mar
|access-date=15 April 2011
|url-status=usurped
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006053826/http://www.saligaoserenade.com/2010/12/05/what-are-goa%E2%80%99s-villages-famous-for/
|archive-date=6 October 2011
}}.
*{{cite book
|last=Sardesai
|first=Manohar Rai
|authorlink=Manohar Rai Sardesai
|publisher=Sahitya Akademi
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1YILeUD_oZUC
|title=A History of Konkani Literature: From 1500 to 1992
|year=2000
|isbn=81-7201-664-6
|access-date=15 April 2011}}
*{{Cite book
|last=Vaz
|first=J. Clement
|year=1997
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7DJLxYBYA-YC
|title=Profiles of eminent Goans, past and present
|publisher=Concept Publishing Company
|isbn=978-81-7022-619-2
|access-date=15 April 2011}}
*{{cite book
|year=1900
|volume=2
|title=Naval and Military Medical Services
|series=The British Medical Journal
|issue=2072
|pmc=2463479
|location=London
|pages=705–788
|publisher=BMJ Publishing Group
|ref={{SfnRef|Naval and Military Medical Services|1900}}
}}.
{{refend}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2014}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunha, Jose Gerson da}}
[[Category:1844 births]]
[[Category:1900 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century Portuguese historians]]
[[Category:19th-century Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Knights of the Order of Saint James of the Sword]]
[[Category:Knights of St. Gregory the Great]]
[[Category:Medical doctors from Goa]]
[[Category:People from North Goa district]]
[[Category:People from Portuguese India]]
[[Category:Portuguese numismatists]]
[[Category:Portuguese orientalists]]
[[Category:Portuguese Roman Catholic writers]]

José Gerson da Cunha - Revision history

DesireeTietjen at 23:08, 7 February 2026