Career
After his death, a secular cult has arisen around him in which he is thanked for "miraculous" cures. Born in Alhandra (near Vila Franca de Xira) he moved to Lisbon in his youth, and qualified in pharmacy (1864) and medicine (1866). He then practiced as a doctor in the Pena area of Lisbon, specialising in the treatment of tuberculosis.
His work was entirely on a secular basis, but he was noted in his life for the care he gave to the poor.
In 1897, he was poisoned by an unknown person possibly due to jealousy of his popularity amongst the medical community. In 1904, a statue of him was erected in the Campo dos Mártires da Pátria in Lisbon, outside the current Faculty of Medicinal Sciences (New University of Lisbon).
This statue has become the centre of a quasi-religious cult in which the spirit Doctor Sousa Martins is believed able to assist in cures.