The work Etnografia: Arte e Vida Antiga dos Açores, written by São Miguel art historian and ethnographer Luis Bernardo Leite de Ataíde, has just been reissued by the Presidency of the Government, through the Regional Directorate for Culture.

Having been previously published twice, the work is now presented as a facsimile of the 1973 issue, divided into four volumes, which is complemented with a Foreword by João Saramago and a Table of Contents by Helena Sanches Galante.

These volumes compile the main research work carried out by Leite de Ataíde during the first half of the 20th century in the fields of Art (especially architecture, Portuguese tiles and painting), Ethnography (emphasising decoration motifs and forms of folk art) and History of the Azores.

Luis Bernardo Leite de Ataíde was born in Ponta Delgada on April 25, 1883 and died in the same city on July 17, 1955. Despite graduating in Law at the University of Coimbra in 1906, he soon proved to have other interests. In fact, Leite Ataíde produced the vast majority of his work as a painter, art historian and ethnographer and was noted for defending the protection and safeguard of cultural heritage.

These aspects, which have made his life path unique, are widely evident in the work he developed from 1912 as Director of the Carlos Machado Museum, where he was the main driving force of the art and ethnography collections as well as the main promoter of the installation of the museum facilities at the Santo André Convent.

Author of various writings both published in journals and in individual works, Leite de Ataíde was also manager of the Terra Nostra Society, honorary member of the Terceira Historical Institute, founding member of the Ponta Delgada Cultural Institute, auxiliary board member of the Commission for National Monuments, corresponding member of the Association of Portuguese Archaeologists as well as member of the Superior Council of Fine Arts.

The merit of Luis Bernardo Leite de Ataíde has not ceased to be publicly recognised. Indeed, in addition to being awarded the rank of Knight of the Order of Saint James of the Sword in 1919, Leite de Ataíde was also posthumously honoured in 1974 with the unveiling of a bronze bust and the opening of a retrospective exhibition at the museum to which he devoted much of his life.