Ricardo Severo da Fonseca e Costa (b.1869, Lisbon–d.1940, São Paolo) was a Portuguese-born engineer, archaeologist, architect, and ardent advocate of the neocolonial style in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Originally born in Lisbon, Severo received his engineering degree at the Porto Polytechnic Academy in 1891. He helped found the Carlos Ribeiro Society, which produced discourse on the ethnic and archaeological origins of the Portuguese people, and was active from 1887 to 1898. The Society produced the Revista de Ciências Naturais e Sociais [Journal of Natural and Social Sciences], which ran from 1890 to 1898. Severo also founded the magazine, Portugália: Materiais para o Estudo do Povo Português[Portugalia: Materials for the Study of the Portuguese People], produced between 1899 and 1908. He was forced into exile in Brazil after his involvement in the revolution against the Portuguese monarchy in 1892. After settling in Brazil, Severo became increasingly involved in the architectural development of the nation. He channeled his interest in Portuguese architecture and history into the development of the revivalist neocolonial style that drew upon Luso-Brazilian traditions, which he promoted in publications. Severo’s participation in the 1914 conference, A Arte Tradicional no Brasil: a Casa e o Templo, was a major milestone in Brazilian architectural history. The author’s defense of national arts can be seen as firmly linked to the growing cult of tradition and the Portuguese historic preservation movement. Severo and his fellow advocates of the neocolonial style promoted the movement as simultaneously traditional and modern, and its visual vocabulary was powerfully displayed in the Brazilian Centennial Exhibition of 1922.