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Francisco Maurício de Sousa Coutinho (1764–1823) was a knight of the Order of Malta, Admiral of the Royal Navy and, Portuguese colonial administrator. He was Governor of the captaincy of Grão-Pará from 1790 to 1803.

Sousa Coutinho was the fourth son of Francisco Inocêncio de Sousa Coutinho, former governor of Angola (764-1772); and brother of Rodrigo de Sousa Coutinho, minister and Secretary of State for the Navy and Overseas Domains of D. João VI.

Sousa Coutinho served as Governor of the Captaincy of Grão-Pará from 1790 to 1803. He consolidated the city as a base for the Portuguese Royal Navy, organized research missions of natural resources in the region, and numerous civic works to modernize Belém.

He became known above all for his analysis of the charter of 1795. The charter was the most important of a whole series of Crown granting sesmarias by Queen Maria X. Promulgated on May 3, 1795, it was the result of consultation with the Overseas Council regarding irregularities and disorders in relation to administration of sesmarias in Brazil.

He translated Charles Rollin's widely translated De la manière d'enseigner et d'étudier les belles-lettres from French into Portugese as 'Vantagens da boa educação, e objectos da mesma in 1806.

"D. Rodrigo de Sousa Coutinho defended the establishment of another Court of Appeal in Portuguese America, but without specifying the exact geographical location of its seat. However, throughout the project he clearly highlighted the political-administrative importance of the northern region of Brazil. At the same time, the brother of D. Rodrigo, D. Francisco Maurício de Sousa Coutinho, was governor and captain general of the captaincies of Pará and Rio Negro.14 During his government, between the years 1790 and 1803, d. Francisco had to deal with the frequent misappropriations of the Royal Treasury and the climate of tension on the borders with the French and Spanish domains. In 1796, d. Rodrigo de Sousa Coutinho asked his brother to carry out a geographical and topographical description of Pará, as well as its boundaries, economic and military activities, farm administration and justice.15 And, like other governors in America, his brother produced maps and documents with information about the captaincy's general situation, highlighting the problems faced in its administration." (Instâncias de poder e justiça: os primeiros tribunais da Relação (Bahia, Rio de Janeiro e Maranhão, Tempo, vol. 24, núm. 1, pp. 89-115, 2018)