ÁLVAREZ, MANOEL

ÁLVAREZ, MANOEL. - Portuguese Jesuit, b. at Ribeira Brava (Madeira) in 1526 and d. at Evora on 30 Dec. 1582. He was rector of the colleges of Coimbra and Evora; but above all he was a skilled teacher of classical languages and owes his still undiminished fame to his Latin grammar, published at Lisbon in 1572 under the title *De institutione grammatica, libri tres*. Prescribed as a school textbook by the *Ratio Studiorum* (q.v.) for the colleges of the Order, it went through more than four hundred editions, with numerous translations into various languages and abridgments and adaptations. Written entirely in Latin, which facilitates the learning not only of the rules but also of the language itself, it is moreover rich in suggestions and norms for teaching and methodology, and offers an effective view of the pedagogical system of the ancient colleges. Alongside its widespread acceptance, it also met with criticism from the very beginning by the revisers of the *Ratio*, who desired greater clarity and a better division of subject matter. The subsequent appearance of Latin grammars written in the vernacular, beginning with the editions of the Oratory of Condren and the Port-Royalist Lancelot, down to those of our own time, steadily reduced its fame and use; yet some attempts remain and not without excellent results (cf., e.g., G. Llobera, *Grammatica classicae latinitatis ad Alvari Institutiones conformata Scholiis hispanis, americanis, philippinis*, Barcelona 1919-20).