Portuguese Monarch. He reigned as King of Portugal from 1861 to 1889. The second son of Queen Maria II da Glória and her King consort Fernão II von Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha, he was married to princess Maria Pia of Savoy, the daughter of the 1st Italian king Vittorio Emanuele II and his queen Adelheid of Austria. Luís was a cultured man who wrote vernacular poetry, but otherwise had no distinguishing gifts in the political field into which he was thrust by the death of his brother king Pedro V in 1861. His domestic reign was a tedious and ineffective series of transitional governments formed at various times by the Progressives (Liberals) and the Regenerators (Conservatives). The latter party was favoured by king Luís I, who secured their long term in office after 1881. Despite a flirtation with the Spanish succession following the abdication of the Spanish queen Isabella II prior to the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71, Luís's reign was otherwise one of domestic stagnation as Portugal fell ever further behind the nations of western Europe in terms of public education, political stability, technological progress and economic prosperity. In colonial affairs, Delgoa Bay was confirmed as a Portuguese possession in 1875, whilst Belgian activities in the Congo during the 1880'es denied Portugal a land link between Angola and Mocambique.Luís was mostly a man of the sciences, with a passion for oceanography. He invested great amounts of his fortune in funding research boats to collect specimens in the oceans of the world. He was responsible for the establishment of one of the worlds first aquariums, Aquário Vasco da Gama in Lisbon, which is still open to the public with its vast collection of maritime life forms. His love for sciences and new things was passed to his two sons.

Portuguese Monarch. He reigned as King of Portugal from 1861 to 1889. The second son of Queen Maria II da Glória and her King consort Fernão II von Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha, he was married to princess Maria Pia of Savoy, the daughter of the 1st Italian king Vittorio Emanuele II and his queen Adelheid of Austria. Luís was a cultured man who wrote vernacular poetry, but otherwise had no distinguishing gifts in the political field into which he was thrust by the death of his brother king Pedro V in 1861. His domestic reign was a tedious and ineffective series of transitional governments formed at various times by the Progressives (Liberals) and the Regenerators (Conservatives). The latter party was favoured by king Luís I, who secured their long term in office after 1881. Despite a flirtation with the Spanish succession following the abdication of the Spanish queen Isabella II prior to the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71, Luís's reign was otherwise one of domestic stagnation as Portugal fell ever further behind the nations of western Europe in terms of public education, political stability, technological progress and economic prosperity. In colonial affairs, Delgoa Bay was confirmed as a Portuguese possession in 1875, whilst Belgian activities in the Congo during the 1880'es denied Portugal a land link between Angola and Mocambique.Luís was mostly a man of the sciences, with a passion for oceanography. He invested great amounts of his fortune in funding research boats to collect specimens in the oceans of the world. He was responsible for the establishment of one of the worlds first aquariums, Aquário Vasco da Gama in Lisbon, which is still open to the public with its vast collection of maritime life forms. His love for sciences and new things was passed to his two sons.

Bio by: Benny Chordt Hansen