Ernesto Carneiro Ribeiro ( 12 September 1839 — 13 November 1920) was a Brazilian physician, teacher, linguist and educator.

He moved to the state capital Salvador, where he attended, humanities preparatory classes for the Bahia School of Medicine.

When Brazil became a republic, in 1899, Carneiro Ribeiro joined the commission formed by governor Manuel Vitorino to elaborate a new educational plan.

[1] In 1902 Carneiro Ribeiro had the task, under the Minister of Justice J. J. Seabra, of reviewing the project of the new Civil Code presented by Clóvis Beviláqua.

Ribeiro answered Barbosa by laying out and defending the peculiarities of the Brazilian Portuguese language – differently of the conservative European-based grammars existing in Brazil.