Arlindo Camilo Monteiro (1888-1956) was a doctor interested both in the history of medicine and in artistic and literary matters who gave a number of papers at scientific conferences before moving to Brazil. His Amor Sáfico e Socrático (Sapphic and Socratic Love), published in 1922, is a compendious work containing information on all aspects of homosexuality but concentrating on Portugal. In the first part, Monteiro describes the historical evidence for homosexuality in Antiquity and in the countries of Europe and the rest of the world, before going into more detail about the Iberian Peninsula and Portugal. The longer second part of the work covers contemporary scientific knowledge about homosexuality. Drawing extensively on French, German and Italian writers, Monteiro discusses aspects of male and female homosexuality, bisexuality and hermaphroditism, psychiatric and medical theories, therapeutic and preventative measures, and the legislation of foreign countries and Portugal.
Monteiro's work is more impassioned than that of Asdrubal Antonio d’Aguiar. He frequently uses negative moralistic terms to describe homosexual activity and even defends the Inquisition against its nineteenth-century critics, yet the sheer amount of detail and the care with which documents are transcribed suggests a labour of love. Occasionally he slips into a defence of homosexuals against the more extreme attacks of writers such as Francisco Ferraz de Macedo, and he acknowledges the widespread prevalence of the phenomenon.
The two works show how far contemporary medico-scientific knowledge about homosexuality had been absorbed in Portugal by the 1920s. Their greatest interest today, however, lies in their transcription of legal texts and references to historical events. With their detailed footnotes, they serve as invaluable guides to historians.
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