José Maria Soares Barata: obituary

Born in Belém, State of Pará, Brazil, he already demonstrated a special affection to insects during his childhood. At the end of his secondary studies, he worked as a technician for the National Department of Rural Endemic Diseases, the institution responsible for combating vectors in Brazil and the precursor of the Superintendence of Public Health Campaigns (SUCAM, a Brazilian public institution responsible for executing public health campaigns), later called the National Health Foundation (FUNASA). With that initial challenge, he learned the basic principles of the anti-vectorial fight, being extremely motivated to embrace this specialty and study the insects involved. He learned the techniques and philosophy of eradication, and he became increasingly interested in the topics of health, enrolling in the Pharmacy and Biochemistry Course of the Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA). During his undergraduate education, he interned at the Emílio Goeldi Museum, having his first contact with renowned entomologists, who had a decisive contribution in the design of his future. It was in this path that he met Eudina Agar Miranda de Freitas Barata, Professor at UFPA at the time. They married, and this marriage lasted until the end of his days, leaving a wonderful family of four children, eight grandchildren, daughters-in-law, and son-in-law.