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Miniature circular silver medal with swivel suspension loop; the face with a full-length mural-crowned female figure representative of the Municipality of Lisbon, her right arm extended proffering laurel crowns, her left hand resting on a shield bearing a three-masted sailing ship, circumscribed above ‘LISBOA AGRADECIDA’ (Grateful Lisbon) and dated ‘1858’ in the exergue; the reverse inscribed ‘À / DEVOÇÃO / HUMANITÁRIA’ (for Humanitarian Devotion), a line below, all within a circular laurel wreath; diameter 19.67mm (0.77 inch); ribbon (plain dark yellow) absent. The Medal created by the Municipality of Lisbon to be awarded to those who distinguished themselves during the Yellow Fever epidemic in Lisbon in autumn 1857. On 17 June 1858 Councillor Dr. Maria Levy Jordan proposed the creation of the medal saying “Vimos Lisboa assolada por um flagelo terrvel que lanou o luto e a consternao em milhares de famlias, mas vimos tambm desenvolver uma caridade, abnegao pessoal e at herosmo que enobrecendo a Cidade que manifestou tais sentimentos ho-de passar Histria, como um dos factos notveis que ela deve registar” (We in Lisbon, were beset by a terrible scourge that brought grief and consternation in thousands of families but we also saw a charity, selflessness and even personal heroism that ennobled the City and as such feelings fade away with the passing of history, is one of the notable facts she must register”. The design of the Medal by the artist Francisco de Borja Freire was approved at the meeting held on 23 August 1858. A few cases of Yellow Fever early in August 1857 had become a major epidemic by mid-September and by mid-November it was causing up to a hundred fatalities each day. The total number of cases was estimated at between sixteen and seventeen thousand, of which approximately five and a half thousand proved fatal.
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