Father of Typhoons – 2025.11.05

The “Father of Typhoons”: Ernesto Gherzi (1886-1973) and the Macao Meteorological Service, 1950-1954

Father Ernesto Gherzi, an eminent Jesuit meteorologist and specialist in typhoons, spent over four years in Macau in the early 1950s, living at the Seminary of St. Joseph and working as an Adjunct Director at the Macau Observatory. After almost thirty years working at the Zikawei Observatory in Shanghai, Gherzi was forced to leave China in 1949. The Bishop of Macau, Dom Joâo de Deus Ramalho, and the Governor of Macau, Albano Rodrigues de Oliveira, saw Gherzi’s exile from Shanghai as an opportunity for their own city. For over four years, Gherzi—a striking personality who was something of a renaissance man, an organist and composer who also wrote poetry—worked to upgrade the Macau Observatory’s facilities and local and international profile.  His efforts were a prominent feature of a programme of community improvements launched by Oliveira to demonstrate Portuguese confidence in Macau’s ability to survive and prosper.

Priscilla Roberts is Associate Professor of History and Heritage at the University of St. Joseph, Macao. She received her bachelor’s and doctoral degrees from King’s College, Cambridge, and has taught and researched in Hong Kong and Macau. She has also held visiting research fellowships in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. She has published extensively in modern international history, especially Asian-Western and Anglo-American relations. Since coming to Macau, she has developed a strong interest in the history of Macau, especially its global role.