In 1976, Teixeira da Mota was transferred to the naval reserve with the rank of Captain (to which he had been promoted in 1973), albeit he continued on active service with functions at the Navy Court and the Ministry of Defence. At the same time, a number of international universities and other institutions invited him to give talks. At the beginning of the 1980s he was asked to outline the plans for one of the main sections of the 17th Exposition of Art, Science and European Culture, but he fell seriously ill when the draft for this grandiose event, which symbolised the renewal of Portugal’s ties with the rest of Europe after the “African period”, was nearly ready.

Teixeira da Mota died in 1982. In the final years of his life he tried to gather support for the publication of Portuguese sources for the study of African societies. This was his great unfinished research project and one that he hoped would bring Portugal and Africa closer together.

A naval officer with a notable service record and a historian of acknowledged merit, Avelino Teixeira da Mota left us a vast body of work based on careful scientific methods that in many respects are still current today. Methodical, with a deep sense of organisation in everything he did, he devoted himself hermit-like to studies and research in various sciences; his legacy for posterity is a bibliographic heritage that encompasses the most varied domains of knowledge. His investigative work in the fields of Seamanship, Nautical Science, Cartography and Luso-African relations, as well as on the Discoveries and especially historical cartography, is today an obligatory reference for anyone who studies these subjects.

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