Orville Adalbert Derby

Orville Adalbert Derby (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈɔʁviw ˈdɛʁbi]; July 23, 1851 in Kelloggsville, New York[1] – November 27, 1915) was an American geologist who worked in Brazil.

While a student, he was invited in 1870 by his professor Charles Frederick Hartt (1840–1878) to follow him in study travel to Brazil (the Morgan Expedition), and returning with him in 1871, this time going to the Tapajós River in the Amazon.

In 1877, with the end of the Commission, Derby decided to stay in Brazil and accepted a post at the National Museum of Rio de Janeiro.

After the failure of an invitation by the state government of Bahia, he returned to Rio de Janeiro and committed suicide in a hotel room, on November 27, 1915, a few months after gaining Brazilian citizenship.

They dispatched some men to Derby's hotel room, where they cleaned him up, sat him in a chair and photographed him, holding his eyes open with matchsticks.