Fontes Pereira de Melo

António Maria de Fontes Pereira de Melo GCTE KGF (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈfõtɨʃ pɨˈɾɐjɾɐ dɨ ˈmɛlu]; Lisbon, 1819 – Lisbon, 1887) was a Portuguese statesman, politician, and engineer. He was the son of João de Fontes Pereira de Melo, the 75th and 78th colonial governor of Cape Verde and wife and first cousin Jacinta Venância Rosa da Cunha Matos. Historically, he was a very important political figure, deputy, and in several occasions minister, six times Minister of Finance.

Pereira de Melo is mostly remembered for conducting dynamic industrial and public infrastructure policy which become known as Fontismo (after his name). He also implemented educational reforms in accordance with the industrialization process he initiated (see Instituto Industrial de Lisboa and Escola Industrial do Porto).

His younger sister, Maria Henriqueta de Fontes Pereira de Melo, wife of Vicente Rodrigues Ganhado, was granted the noble title of 1st Marchioness of Fontes Pereira de Melo.

The Fontes Pereira de Melo Lighthouse in the easternmost point of the island of Santo Antão in northwestern Cape Verde was named for him, it was first constructed when he was Prime Minister in his later years and was completed in the year that he was no longer Prime Minister. Now it is called the Ponta do Tumbo Lighthouse.