Carlos de Lima Mayer (1846 — 1910) was a medical doctor, businessman and intellectual who belonged to the group of late - 19th century intellectuals in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon, known as Life's Vanquished (Vencidos da Vida).

His parents were António Mayer and Maria Clementina de Lima.

Their daughter was Veva de Lima, an eccentric socialite who ran literary salons, and their granddaughter was Maria Ulrich, a pioneering educationalist in Portugal.

[1][2] Mayer attended the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Coimbra, followed by the Medical-Surgical School of Lisbon, finishing his medical studies in Belgium and France.

[3] After completing his studies, he then briefly left medicine to manage family companies in Mozambique, Angola, the Azores and the Algarve.