António Fortunato de Figueiredo

Maestro António Fortunato de Figueiredo (20 August 1903 – 1981) was a famous Goan conductor and violinist. He was India's first conductor of Western classical music.

António was born in Nacordá, near Loutolim, in Goa, then known as Portuguese India, the son of Gabriel de Figueiredo and Ermelinda Parras e Figueiredo. He learnt the first rudiments of music at primary school under the local teacher. Whilst studying at the Lyceum of Panjim, he learnt the Violin and soon became an accomplished player. He went to Portugal in 1927 to pursue an Arts degree at the University of Lisbon, but transferred to the National Conservatory of Lisbon (Conservatório Nacional de Lisboa in Portuguese), graduating with a Higher Education Degree in Violin in 1932. He then proceeded to Paris to further his musical studies in Musical Sciences and Composition & Harmony at the Faculty of Music and Musicology at the University of Paris (the Sorbonne).

On his return to Goa in 1936, António was appointed Choirmaster (Professor de Canto Coral in Portuguese) at the Lyceum of Panjim, (Liceu Afonso de Albuquerque in Portuguese).

António organised and directed choral groups (Orfeões in Portuguese) and string ensembles (Tunas in Portuguese) which staged many performances in Loutolim and Panjim, most of them in aid of charity foundations. The most memorable Orfeão was the one presented in aid of the crusade against Leprosy and Tuberculosis in 1946.

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