Antonio Austregésilo Rodrigues Lima

Antônio Austregésilo Rodrigues de Lima was born in Recife in the State of Pernambuco on April 21, 1976, to attorney José Austregésilo Rodrigues de Lima and Maria Adelaide Feitosa Lima. 

At 16, he moved to Rio de Janeiro and enrolled at the city’s College of Medicine, where he studied medicine and graduated in 1899, after submitting a final paper called “A Clinical Study on Delirium.” While still a student, he worked as an assistant to the medical committee in charge of tackling the cholera epidemic that in 1896 ravaged the Vale do Paraíba, encompassing the States of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Moreover, the young physician interned at a hospital ward supervised by Professor Francisco de Castro, and in 1901, worked under the supervision of Dr. Miguel Couto. 

Dr. Austregésilo Rodrigues Lima was then elected a Full Member of the Academia Nacional de Medicina (National Academy of Medicine – ANM), more specifically on September 4, 1903, where he fulfilled several roles at the board of the institution and later rose to the ranks of Emeritus Professor on August 22, 1929. Furthermore, he served as Vice-President from 1933 to 1934 and as President during the terms of 1935 to 1937, 1945 to 1947, and 1949 to 1951. His memory and work lives on as he is the Patron of Chair Number 11. 

During his first trip to Europe, Dr. Rodrigues Lima attended the Widal, Babinski and Dejorine departments of neurology in France and the Krause and Oppenheim hospitals in Germany. Later on, already as an acclaimed Professor of Neurology in Brazil, he visited other neurology and neurosurgery departments, particularly in the United States. 

In 1909, he was designated as a Substitute Professor in the subjects of clinical medicine, internal pathology and clinical propaedeutics (general pathology), whereas in 1912, he was appointed as a Full Professor of the recently established Department of Neurology of the Rio de Janeiro College of Medicine (now, the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro – UFRJ). Additionally, the physician held the title of Honorary Professor at the Faculty of Medical Sciences of Pernambuco.

Dr. Rodrigues Lima was Head of the Philippe Pinel Institute, of which he established and developed a remarkable center of studies and medical education program. He also led efforts to set up the Neurology Clinic of the 20^th Ward of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia General Hospital of Rio de Janeiro, with this department being subsequently split into two units: the Clinical Medicine unit and the Neurology unit. Alongside physicians Adauto Botelho, Pernambuco Filho and Ulysses Viana, the neurologist founded the now defunct Sanatório Botafogo (Sanatorium of Botafogo), in addition to working as a doctor at the General Polyclinic of Rio de Janeiro in the neighborhood of Botafogo. 

The neurologist and Academician was deemed a true pioneer in the field of neurology and in conducting studies on movement disorders in Brazil. One of his most famous contributions is the semiotic sign that bears his name and that of Doctor Faustino Esposel. Thus, the Austregésilo-Esposel sign, published in 1912 in the L’Encéphale journal, is considered a replacement for the Babinski (plantar reflex) sign.

Furthermore, Dr. Austregésilo Rodrigues Lima ran the Instituto da Assistência a Psicopatas (Institute of Neurology for Assistance to Psychopaths) and the Brazilian Archives of Neurology and Psychiatry. The renowned neurologist was also a member of a host of societies both in Brazil and abroad, including the Brazilian Society of Neurology, Psychiatry and Forensic Medicine, the Rio de Janeiro Medical and Surgical Society, the Brazilian Society of Dermatology and Syphilology, and the Brazilian Criminology Society. In addition, he was granted membership to the Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science, the French Society of Neurology, the Portuguese Medical Association in Lisbon, the French Psychiatry Federation, and the German Neurological Society.

Other honors and achievements of Dr. Austregésilo Rodrigues Lima include Honorary Member titles granted by the São Paulo State Medical and Surgical Society, the Medical Association of Rio Grande do Sul, the Fluminense Medical Association of Niterói and the Buenos Aires-based Argentine Academy of Medicine. Moreover, he was decorated with the Military Order of Saint James of the Sword of Portugal, the Order of the Crown of Romania, and the French Legion of Honor medal. 

In 1928, after returning from a trip to the United States where he was taken aback by advanced technological methods applied by surgeons Harvey Cushing and Charles Frazier, Dr. Moreira Lima commissioned surgeon Augusto Brandão Filho, also referred to as the “Prince of Surgeons”, and shortly thereafter, Alfredo Alberto Pereira Monteiro as well as his Assistant, José Ribeiro Portugal, to officially establish what would shortly become the Brazilian Society of Neurosurgery. Their efforts were greatly helped by the assistance provided by Doctor Antonio Rodrigues de Mello. 

Another side to the renowned neurologist was his love of literature, so much so that he contributed to the modernist movement of Recife. Afterwards, in 1914, he was invited to join the Brazilian Academy of Letters, of which he served as President in 1939. 

In politics, he represented the State of Pernambuco as a Congressman from 1922 to 1930. 

Dr. Austregésilo Rodrigues Lima also authored several literary fiction books. He collaborated with the Brasil Médico weekly magazine and with the A Noite (The Night) newspaper, the São Paulo Medical Magazine, and the Brazilian Journal of Medicine. Furthermore, he published numerous scientific papers in Brazilian, French, German, American, Spanish, and Argentine medical journals. 

Dr. Antonio Austregésilo Rodrigues Lima passed away on December 23, 1960, in the city of Rio de Janeiro. He was 84 years old. 

As a tribute to him, the National Academy of Medicine’s Great Hall is named after Dr. Austregésilo.

Acad. Francisco Sampaio