The Brazilian Academy of Sciences, which in its first five years was named Brazilian Society of Sciences, was formally founded on May 3, 1916, in Rio de Janeiro, then the capital of the Brazilian Republic. The new Society comprised three sections: Mathematics, Physicochemical Sciences and Biological Sciences, and was modeled on the French Academy of Sciences. The main objectives of the Society were to encourage its members to pursue scientific research, to stimulate the development of national based research, and to diffuse the notion of science as a factor promoting prosperity and the technological development of the country. Although support and aid from the government was expected, the Academy was structured as a private, legally independent organization, appointing its own administrative officers and drawing up its own rules. In its early years, the Academy played a determinant role in the fostering of science in Brazil, with several of its members contributing significantly to the advancement of other scientific and cultural activities in the country, such as the introduction of radio broadcasting in Brazil (1923) and the creation of the Brazilian Society for Education (1924).