Introduction

The history of the surveyor’s graduation in Santa Catarina and by extension in Brazil is dispersed in several archives of public and private institutions, and a significant part of the records is definitely lost due to the lack of care in the storage of materials or due to the disposal of documents concerning graduating schools that no longer exist.

Of the records that can be located, primary sources available in archives and libraries were used. Some fundamental records for the research were obtained from Professor Ênio Miguel de Souza Topography Museum (Museu de Topografia Professor Ênio Miguel de Souza) and the Professor Lúcio Mendes Library (Biblioteca Professor Lúcio Mendes), both maintained by the Technical Course in Surveying of the Federal Institute of Santa Catarina (Curso Técnico de Agrimensura do Instituto Federal de Santa Catarina - IFSC), which maintains among its purposes the recovery of the history of education, professionals and equipment used in the trajectory of work in topography and surveying, especially in Santa Catarina State.

The beginning of this survey was marked by the Land Law of 1850, which required that measurements of public lands should be carried out by surveyors with recognized diplomas and duly registered in the so-called surveyors' books. The Brazilian legislation pointed to the need, which would be growing from then on, for professionals who knew how to measure and demarcate our territory since the beginning of the country’s occupation.

By virtue of the Law, the first surveyors who worked in Santa Catarina had validated diplomas issued by schools in other States or by other countries, a condition that, according to the surveys carried out, denotes the absence of graduation schools in the State at the time.

Over time, Santa Catarina began to have educational institutions that could graduate qualified professionals to exercise land measurement services, and then, by the records still available, it is proposed to identify which is the first school to graduate a surveyor in Santa Catarina and other points in the history of surveying training in the State, listing the teachers involved in schools who contributed fundamentally to the training of this pioneering professionals at Santa Catarina.

Surveyors in Santa Catarina

The need for professionals to act in the land demarcation in Brazil and Santa Catarina is evident in the correspondences issued by the rulers of the time, due to the disorderly occupation that took place throughout Brazilian territory.

In this regard, Taunay wrote (1920 apud Reis Filho, 2000 p.141) “since 1590, by the way, he has insistently asked the parliament to hire two 'pilots', 'needle practitioners', or surveyors, for the town, because of the land issues”.

In addition to the absence of a graduating school, the difficulties in measuring in because of the dense vegetation existing at the time and the high cost of carrying out the work formed an unfavorable scenario for the offer of these professionals. In Santa Catarina, people already complained about the

lack of people who know how to enter the bushes to measure, to demarcate lands; for which there was a lack of Geographers, or experienced Engineers and in the absence of one, and some other Surveyors who understood about directions, to teach others not to make mistakes in measuring and demarcating land. ((ESCUDEIRO, 1750, apud ^{PIAZZA, 1992} p. 383).

The Portuguese and, later, the Brazilian legislation were concerned with demanding the measurement and demarcation of both private lands and those that would be destined to towns and provinces, in order to achieve this intent, surveyors would be needed.

The Permit of October 5, 1795 was one of the measures taken by the Portuguese Crown to organize the occupation of the Brazilian territory, which, according to Cunha Junior (1998), required measurement and demarcation, prohibited the granting of land grants (sesmarias) to those who had already benefited from the previous concession, reduced the limit area of the land grants to a maximum of three leagues (measurement unit), with some captaincies having a maximum limit of one league, and in others, only half a league.

The Land Law of 1850 with its Regulation, Decree No. 1.318/1854, was a landmark of territorial legislation in Brazil highlighting the fact that it was, in practice, the only moment in Brazilian history that coexisted with a system of territorial organization based on the survey of real estate property with measurements, including designating the procedures and professionals responsible for this task. The aforementioned Decree, in its Article 35, defined the professionals qualified to work with measurement.

Art 35. The Surveyors will be people qualified by any national or foreign School, recognized by the respective Governments, and in which topography is taught. In the absence of a competent title, they will be qualified by an examination carried out by two Officials of the Corps of Engineers, or by two people, who have completed the course at the Military school, with the Examiners being appointed by the Presidents of the Provinces (BRASIL,1854).

A new Decree, No. 3198, published in December 1863 to regulate the appointment of professionals to exercise the function of surveyors established:

Approves the instructions for the appointment of Surveyors. Instructions for Appointing Surveyors

Art. 1 The following may only be employed, as Surveyors, in the measurements of public and private lands, carried out by order or with the participation of the Government:

1º Geographic Engineers with a license issued by national schools;

2º Those qualified with a complete course letter from the Academy or Marine School of the Corte;

3º Licensed Pilots (Compass Operators) by the same School or Academy, or recognized by them;

4º The authorized surveyors with a title in the form of these instructions;

5º Those who, as such, have been employed by the Government up to this date. (BRASIL, 1863).

Such regulations were in force until the date of constitution of the first surveyor graduation schools.

Teaching of Surveying in the 19th century to the mid-20th century

Despite the latent demand, during the 19th century, according to ^{Fonseca (1986}), the government of the Province of Santa Catarina did not have an initiative to create a craft school. Only in 1883, from a private project, with the support of the government of the time, was created the Liceu de Artes e Ofícios (Lyceum of Arts and Crafts).

Also by private initiative at the end of the 19th century, there was an attempt to create a surveying course by Professor Liberato Bittencourt, as announced in the Jornal República (Republic Newspaper):

The Representative Congress of the State of Santa Catarina decrees:

Art. 1 The title of surveyor awarded by the “Bittencourt School” to its students who have passed the entire surveying course, in exams supervised by the State government, will be considered official in the State of Santa Catarina. September 20, 1897 (JOURNAL A REPUBLICA, 1897, p.2).

This attempt to create a school for the teaching of surveying, which would also be used for primary and secondary education, did not succeed. Professionals trained by the institution were not registered due to the short time they remained in activity.

In view of the reports, the scenario in the city of Desterro, currently Florianópolis, in 1900 (Figure 1), was of little progress in education, with only three teaching units, being restricted to the Escola Normal, the Gymnasio Catharinense and the Liceu de Artes e Ofícios, establishments to serve a population of 32,814 inhabitants, with the State of Santa Catarina having 320,289 inhabitants at the same time, according to data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE, 2020).

Source: Velho Bruxo. Available at: http://www.velhobruxo.tns.ufsc.br/FotoAntigas/Album006/pages/6081%20-%20Cidade%20vista%20do%20morro%20da%20Prainha%2020antes%20da%20ponte%20H_L%20provavel%201900_jpg.htm. Visited in: jun.13 2020.

Figure 1 View of downtown Florianópolis in 1900. 

A few years after Professor Liberato Bittencourt's fruitless initiative, in 1901, there are reports of advertisements published in July of that year in the newspapers O Dia (The Day) and República (Republic) about the creation of a school in Florianópolis aimed at training professionals. The initiative, once again private, this time came from Emílio Blum (Figure 2), Municipal Superintendent (Mayor) in various periods between 1890 and 1901.

Source: Associação Comercial e Industrial de Florianópolis (2015). Available at: http://www.acif.org.br/a-acif/galeria-de-presidentes/attachment/1915-cel-emilio-blum/. Visited in: 13 jun. 2020

Figure 2 Portrait of Emilio Blum. 

Born in Bagé, Rio Grande do Sul State, he graduated as an engineer in Europe and returned to Brazil with republican ideas. He lived in Desterro (Current Florianópolis), where he acted politically for the State with a successful articulation between the executive and legislative powers to pass legislation that would enable the operation of the teaching institution, then called Instituto Technico Commercial e Naval (Commercial and Naval Technical Institute).

Emilio Blum was also Constituent State Deputy and Federal Deputy, he fought for legalistic causes, receiving for this the rank of Colonel. Another movement in which he was involved was the creation of the Florianópolis Commercial Association, having been its first President.

His dedication was decisive for the implantation of the Institute, with ample publicity in republican-oriented newspapers, of which the register was located. The institution had the initial purpose of training Pilots (Compass Operators) for maritime navigation, and keeping books, in addition to accepting students in isolated disciplines aimed at preparing for exams in Faculties of the Republic, as well as students for piano and music classes. After the first announcements about the beginning of the school's activities, the courses on Farm, for those wishing to work in customs, and on Surveying were added to those initially planned.

Offering four courses for the time being, the educational institution, in Article 1 of its statute, highlighted that, with the purpose of “filling a very sensitive gap, it is intended to prepare the youth for four important careers: Commercial, that of Pilotage, Surveyors and Farm." (INSTITUTO TECHNICO, 1901, p.1). In the same Article, the Sole Paragraph specified:

To this end, the Institute will maintain four courses; the Commercial, aimed at those who dedicate themselves to this profession, assuring them the diploma of Jurist Bookkeeper; Piloting, which will provide those who complete the title of 1st and 2nd class Pilot; that of Surveying, which will guarantee those who complete the course the diploma of Surveyor and that of Finance, intended to provide those who follow this profession with the knowledge required for the Contests (INSTITUTO TECHNICO, 1901, p.1).

The Institute was inaugurated on July 15, 1901 and was greeted by the newspaper O Dia (The Day) “with a qualified and hard-working faculty, the Institute will be able to give the fruits that everyone expects from it” (Newspaper O DIA, 1901, p.3) .

One month after the inauguration, the State Governor Felippe Schmidt sanctioned Law 502 of August 16, 1901, recognizing the title given by the Institute:

It considers the title of Surveyor or Jurist Bookkeeper, granted by the Instituto Technico Commercial e Naval, to be official in the State.

Lieutenant Colonel Felippe Schmidt, Governor of the State of Santa Catarina.

I let all the inhabitants of this State know that the Representative Congress decrees, and I sanction the following Law:

Art.1°. In the State of Santa Catarina, the title of Surveyor or Bookkeeper, jurist, awarded by the Instituto Technico Commercial e Naval to its students approved in the respective courses in exams carried out by the State government will be considered official.

Art.2°. Provisions to the contrary are revoked. (SANTA CATARINA, 1901).

As a private initiative, fees were charged to formalize enrollment, take exams, and issue diplomas. Monthly or quarterly fees were also charged for courses and monthly fees for individual subjects.

The Institute, according to records, did not have its own installation, operating at the headquarters of the Escola Normal (Normal School) (Figure 3), located on the current corner of Trajano and Tenente Silveira Streets, at night between six and nine o'clock. Emilio Blum's own residence was used as a secretary, according to reports found.

Source: Newspaper A Phenix, n° 26 (1916).

Figure 3 Normal School Building 

Two advertisements referring to the Institute's activities demonstrate how much the project's success was desired, the first one gave account of a subsidy from the State for the maintenance of students, which was never used. The second is about the possible construction of a boarding school for students from the interior, an initiative that was also not implemented.

The Institute's statutes provided for the possibility of offering, upon request from interested parties, exams for obtaining a course diploma or for validating individual subjects. To this end, the Institute would set up a panel to carry out the tests, following guidelines regulated by the government.

In November 1902 the State Government, through the Decree 173 issued by the vice-governor Lieutenant Colonel Vidal Ramos, who would later become State Governor, responsible for education reform, citing the Institute as an example to be followed, formalized the instructions for the conducting final exams for the Institute's surveying and bookkeeping courses.

The instructions for taking the tests provided for exams called vacant, in which the candidate could take proof of work experience in the area for at least 10 years.

The Surveying Course at Instituto Technico Commercial e Naval

The students of the then created Surveying Course, according to the Institute's statutes, had to be over 16 years old, know how to read and write, in addition to proving knowledge of the four mathematical operations through a school diploma or through a preliminary exam.

The course was divided into three modules, and in the first, called the Preparatory Course, students who presented school diplomas that could prove knowledge acquired for the topics that made up the subjects, were exempt.

The second module, called Preliminary Course, was focused on the professional preparation and theoretical improvement of students. The third module called the Special Course involved area-specific disciplines and practical classes.

The subjects that made up the Surveying Course are shown in table 1, according to the statute of the Instituto Technico Commercial e Naval.

In the Surveying course, both by the Institute's statute and by Decree 173 of the State Government, which complied with the instructions of Decree 4247 of November 1901 of the Federal Government on general exams, candidates eligible to receive the diploma could take exams called vacant, submitting himself to the Topography and Geodesy tests organized by the examining board approved by the Government inspector, as long as he has proven experience in professional practice in the area.

Among the professors, called lenses, of the Institute's courses, there were initially, in addition to Emílio Blum himself, the Deputy of the State Congress, Dr. Campos Mello, the State Attorney General Dr. Thiago da Fonseca (professor of Portuguese, History and Geography), the Attorney Dr. Manoel Adeodato de Souza Junior, Lieutenant of the Armada Affonso Livramento and Professor Paulo Scheefler. This number could increase as demand depending on the number of students.

These teachers formed the so-called congregation, which was responsible for preparing teaching material, class schedules, the syllabus of disciplines and, finally, preparing and composing the board for the final exams.

The first graduated surveyor

Among the students enrolled at the institution, Frederico Selva stands out (Figure 4), an immigrant who arrived in Brazil, who between 1901 and 1902, when the Institute was active, worked in Florianópolis providing topography services for the municipal government.

Source: Selva Family. Available at: http://www.familiaselva.com.br/index.php?modulo=album. Visited in: jun. 13 2020.

Figure 4 Portrait of Frederico Selva 

Among the work demands were surveying and rectification of the main streets in the city center, in addition to the preparation of plans with street layout and improvements that relied on his draftsman skills, a skill he acquired when he worked for the Metropolitan Company, contracted for the implementation of the colonies of Italian immigrants in the south of Santa Catarina.

With experience and outstanding performance in various development projects in the State, in the coal region and in the improvement committee at the Port of Laguna, the staunch republican, enrolled at the Institute, asked to take the exam called vacant.

On December 4, 1902, according to records, through a panel composed of professors from the Instituto Technico: Emilio Blum, Carlos Wendhausen, Thiago Fonseca, Fausto de Souza and Fernando Machado, Frederico Selva took the exam of the subjects necessary for his diploma in the course of Survey of the aforementioned Institute.

The following day, December 5, 1902, Frederico Selva, at a ceremony presided over by Vice-Governor Vidal Ramos, in the halls of Liceu de Artes e Ofícios, with the presence of the Mayor of Florianópolis, colonel Pereira Oliveira, with the Director, teachers and students from the Institute, from Escola Normal and other students, in addition to state personalities such as José Boiteux and Fernando Machado, Frederico Selva was a certified Land Surveyor (JORNAL A REPÚBLICA, 1902).

On December 12 of the same year, 1902, in the last act published by the Instituto Technico Commercial e Naval that is known before the end of its activities, there is an inscription in the Book of Surveyors of Frederico Selva's diploma, granting him rights to act as Surveyor on public land.

In the Book of Registration of the Titles of Surveyors of Santa Catarina, opened in 1864, in the records of 1902 there is the inscription of Frederico Selva's diploma, with paleographic transcription of the authors:

United States of Brazil. = State of Santa Catarina. = Instituto Technico Commercial e Naval. Diploma. = I Emilio Blum, Director of the Instituto Technico Commercial e Naval of the State of Santa Catharina, using the powers conferred on me by the regulations in force, and taking into account the evidence presented in the exams he underwent, on the 4th and 5th of this month, Sir Frederico Selva, son of Constantino Selva, born in Italy and naturalized Brazilian, at 39 years of age, I ordered the approval of this Surveyor's diploma with the rights granted by Law No. 502, of August 16, 1901. (PUBLIC ARCHIVES OF THE STATE OF SANTA CATARINA, 1902).

It is likely that Frederico Selva was the only candidate to be enrolled in the vacant exam modality and to be the only student to receive the diploma. With the end of the Technical Institute at the end of 1902, it was only in 1910 that a professional school was inaugurated in Santa Catarina, the Escola de Aprendizes Artífices (Craftsman Apprentices School), now the Instituto Federal de Santa Catarina - IFSC (Federal Institute of Santa Catarina).

Frederico Selva and the creation of a higher education course in the state.

Florianópolis did not have any higher education courses until 1917, the graduation of professionals in the capital was limited and taking a higher education course outside Florianópolis was only for the rich or for those who could find someone to finance it (^{VIEIRA, 1986}).

The first attempts to create a higher-level establishment date back to the beginning of the 20th century. The pioneer institution in the State of Santa Catarina, the Instituto Politécnico (Polytechnic Institute) emerged in 1917 as the head of the José Arthur Boiteux initiative and as reported in the newspapers circulating in Florianópolis at the time.

Among the higher education courses offered by the Instituto Politécnico, Surveying stands out, being the first course in the area of ​​Engineering in the State, which began its activities in the year of foundation of the institution, 1917, and continued teaching until its extinction, in 1934. When the Instituto Politécnico was conceived, the name linked to the organization of the higher education course dedicated to Surveying at the institution was Frederico Selva, a surveyor trained by the Technical Institute who years later served as Interim Director of the Instituto Politécnico.

Professional secondary education began its consolidation in the mid-twentieth century, as stated by ^{Dallabrida (2007}), and until 1950 there was a gap between secondary and vocational education, the first for the elites and the second considered second-class.

In 1962, at the so-called Escola Industrial de Florianópolis (Industrial School of Florianópolis), the first two high-school technical courses were started, and in 1966 already with the name of Escola Industrial Federal de Santa Catarina (Federal Industrial School of Santa Catarina), headed by Professor Georges Wildi, the Technical Course in Surveying was created, initially with 277 students. The first groups had professors Sezefredo Blascke, Salvador Poeta and Carlos Büchele Junior, who graduated from the Instituto Politécnico of Florianópolis.

Discussion

Professional education began in Santa Catarina through private initiatives with the support of the state government, mainly in terms of legislation. Records on the existence of state professional schools appear only after the middle of the 20th century.

The creation of schools in Florianópolis has been a concern since the empire, but with the Republic, despite the accelerated process of development of the capital and the state of Santa Catarina, education was relegated to the background, forcing people from Santa Catarina to study in other States.

The need for training surveyors, as in the past, continues to be a demand from society that needs to be sure that the limits of their properties are correctly determined.

The creation of the Instituto Technico Commercial e Naval on the initiative of Emilio Blum, although with a small existence, was the seed of professional education in Santa Catarina, particularly in the area of ​​Infrastructure with the Surveying Course. Frederico Selva, the first and only graduate, together with José Boiteux (present in his diploma) created the Instituto Politécnico and the first Higher Education courses in Santa Catarina. Another aspect to be highlighted about the Instituto Technico Commercial e Naval is the provision, in its statute and later in the state law, of the possibility of recognizing professional experience as a requirement through exams for obtaining a professional title. This modality is now called Competency Certification and has been adopted by the Technical Course in Surveying at the Federal Institute of Santa Catarina (IFSC).

Some of the graduates at the Instituto Politécnico were Professors of the first classes of the Technical Course in Surveying at the Industrial School of Santa Catarina, forming several links in this chain of surveyors trained in the State.

The Institute's curious history is told through newspaper advertisements and a few scattered documents in state archives, always trying to convey a message of optimism about the school.

The research involved a bibliographic survey on the topic of Instituto Technico Commercial e Naval, and began with the consultation of one of the 1982 books, authored by Professors José Edu Rosa and Ademar Américo Madeira, a copy of the Professor Lucio Mendes Library of the Technical Course in Surveying, who has a collection of books on the history of teaching in Brazil.

Considered documentary, the research was elaborated from materials that did not receive analytical treatment, based on old printed material, such as newspapers of the time and documents produced by the Instituto Técnico, and for this reason, the first place visited to start the search for materials was the rare works sector of the Public Library of the State of Santa Catarina, consulting newspapers from 1900 and 1902 in the newspaper library, having found references in the newspapers O Dia and República.

Also in the sector of rare works was found the Statute of the Instituto Technico Commercial e Naval, which is now available in the digital newspaper library of the State Library, digitized on request.

The sector of rare works of the Library of the Federal University of Santa Catarina, the Municipal Public Archive, the State University Library and the State Public Archive were also consulted.

In the Public Archive of the State, documents referring to the Institute and its founder were found that proved the existence of the institution, but mainly an important document for the History of Surveying in Santa Catarina.

This document is cataloged as the Book of Surveyors, it is the first form of professional registration, it contains the names of the professionals and the educational institution in which they graduated or validated their diploma.

Another important source of research was the Digital Newspaper Library of the National Library, where digitized newspapers from the collection of Santa Catarina between the years 1890 and 1910 were consulted.

These and other historical documents have great relevance since the sources are at the origin, they constitute the starting point, the base, the support point of the historiographic construction, which is the construction, in terms of knowledge, of the studied historical object. (Saviani, 2004, p.6). For the author, the origins as a record, as testimonies of historical acts, are the source of our historical knowledge, that is, it is from them that it springs, it is in them that the knowledge we produce about history is based.

All documentation found was photographed or digitized with the consent of its holders and will be part of the digital collection of the Library and Museum of the Technical Course in Surveying of the Instituto Federal de Santa Catarina - IFSC.

Final Considerations

The present study was motivated by researching which is the first school to graduate a surveyor, having been carried out for this purpose, research in primary sources available in archives and libraries and research in bibliographic collection.

Records were found on the history of the training of surveyors in Santa Catarina and the links between the names involved in the schools that trained these professionals, highlighting the figure of Frederico Selva, the first surveyor graduated in the first surveying school in the state, the Instituto Technico Commercial e Naval, which later contributed to the creation of the Instituto Politécnico, the first higher education institution in the State of Santa Catarina.

Based on the research carried out, the Technical Course in Surveying of the Federal Institute of Santa Catarina (IFSC), through its Topography Museum, Professor Ênio Miguel de Souza, and its Library, Professor Lucio Mendes, will store in its collection the primary bibliographic references found in digital media so that it can contribute to the preservation of files and documents that tell the History of Surveying.