| Manuel Francisco de Vargas | |
| Birth Date: | 23 November 1849 |
| Birth Place: | Mértola, Portugal |
| Nationality: | Portugal |
| Occupation: | Engineer, businessman, numismatist, railroad worker and politician |
| Other Names: | Manuel Francisco Vargas |
| Known For: | Having planned the construction of the Douro line, and drawn up the Plan for the Network South of the Tagus River |
Manuel Francisco de Vargas (23 November 1849 – 9 December 1921), also known as Adviser Vargas (Conselheiro Vargas), was an engineer, businessman and politician from Portugal. He was a prominent numismatist, specializing in Hispano-Arab coins.[1]
Born in Mértola in the region of Alentejo, he was one of the engineers of the Douro line, having been appointed, on 4 February 1888, as one of the members of a commission to organize the expropriations necessary for the construction of the section between the stations of Porto-São Bento and Porto-Campanhã.[2] He was deputy director and administrator of the Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses company. He also held the position of Ministry of Public Works, Trade and Industry between 1900 and 1903,[3] distinguishing himself by reforming the rail transport tariff systems[4] and by drawing up and publishing the Rede ao Sul do Tejo Plan, an official document that outlined all the railway projects of that time in the south of Portugal.[5]
He was Minister of Public Works from 1900 to 1903.
As a specialist in Arabic numismatics, he was the author of several works published in O Arqueólogo Português.[6] [7] He is also the author of the "Catálogo das Moedas Árabes", published in volume XI of the "Boletim da Associação dos Arqueólogos".
He died on 9 December 1921 at age 72.