ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the political turbulence – or perhaps better in the case, the subtle political drift – that disturbed the discreet existence of one of Portuguese institutions: the Academy of Sciences of Lisbon. Stressing the “Portuguese contributions towards victory and the benefit of Humanity”, the pamphlet reproduced the new official version of the history of Portuguese neutrality during the war, a version that had been retrospectively rewritten and adapted to the new balance of powers of the post-war world. The political storm that was beginning to hit Europe was also being felt at the otherwise quiet and discreet – some would say lethargic – Lisbon Academy. Political suspicion increased considerably, not only in France but in smaller countries such as Belgium and Portugal”. Like many other European academies, the Lisbon Academy of Sciences was created in the late 18th century in the spirit of the Enlightenment.
