Portuguese poet and politician (born 1936)
Manuel Alegre de Melo Duarte
,
GCL
(born 12 May 1936) is a Portuguese
poet
and
politician
, member of the
Socialist Party
, and a candidate for the
2006 Portuguese presidential election
. He ran again in the
2011 presidential election
,
[1]
this time backed by the
Left Bloc
[2]
and the Socialist Party.
[3]
Alegre was awarded the
Camoes Prize
in 2017.
[4]
Background
[
edit
]
He is the son of Francisco Jose de Faria e Melo Ferreira Duarte, brother of
sportsman
Mario Duarte
, son of the 1st
Baroness
of
a
Recosta, maternal grandson of the 1st
Baron
of Cadoro and matrilineal great-grandson of the 1st
Viscount
of
o
Barreiro
, and wife Maria Manuela Alegre. His sister Maria Teresa Alegre de Melo Duarte is also a
Deputy
and is the widow of another Deputy, Antonio Jorge Moreira Portugal (1931?1994). Their son is
journalist
Manuel Alegre Portugal. As he once stated, his ancestors were
hanged
and
beheaded
at the Praca Nova,
Porto
, during the
Liberal Wars
.
[
citation needed
]
Career
[
edit
]
He was a member of the
Portuguese Communist Party
from his youth until the Soviet invasion of
Czechoslovakia
, which he staunchly opposed, in 1968. Today he's usually considered one of the most leftist members of the Portuguese
Socialist Party
. He voted against all the revisions of the
Portuguese Constitution
of 1976, and abstained at a commemorative vote for the 10th anniversary of the fall of
Berlin Wall
, in 1999.
[
citation needed
]
While studying
law
at the
University of Coimbra
, Alegre was noticed for his opposition to
Antonio de Oliveira Salazar
's dictatorial government - the
Estado Novo
regime. He was
conscripted
, and sent to the
Azores
and later to
Portuguese Angola
, where his involvement in an attempt to military rebellion led to his imprisonment. After serving his prison term in
Luanda
, he returned to
Coimbra
, before going into exile in 1964. As a student at the University of Coimbra he was a very active figure of the
Associacao Academica de Coimbra
, the university's student's union, while member of the governing body, athlete and cultural agent (poetry and theatre). He would never graduate in law.
He would live the next ten years in
Algiers
, where he was one of the main voices of a radio station directed to Portugal,
Radio Voz da Liberdade
(
Freedom's Voice
), also called
Radio Argel
, from where he reportedly led a series of activities supporting African forces opposing the Portuguese military intervention in the
Portuguese Colonial War
, including by airing privileged information regarding Portuguese strategy in the theater of war. The distribution of his first books was forbidden by Salazar's government, so they circulated in
samizdat
form. Alegre returned to Portugal in 1974, one week after the
Carnation Revolution
.
[
citation needed
]
He joined the Socialisty Party almost immediately, and was elected to Parliament in every election from
1975
to
2005
. He was also one of the vice-presidents of Parliament.
Several of his poems were made into songs, sung among others by
Zeca Afonso
and
Adriano Correia de Oliveira
, and played by
Carlos Paredes
. His words were set to music by Tony Haynes on world jazz ensemble
Grand Union Orchestra
's 1997 album,
The Rhythm of Tides
.
[5]
One of his poems
Uma flor de verde pinho
won 1976's
Festival RTP da Cancao
, who represented Portugal in
Eurovision Song Contest
.
In
2004
, he lost to
Jose Socrates
a bid for the party leadership.
In 2005, a statue in his honour was erected in
Coimbra
.
On 24 September 2005, he announced that he would be a candidate in the
2006 Portuguese presidential election
, despite his party's official support for former president
Mario Soares
as a candidate. On the elections held 22 January 2006, he ended up collecting 20.7% of the valid votes (the second largest amount after the elected President,
Cavaco Silva
, and ahead of his party's official candidate Mario Soares).
He is also a Member of the
Portuguese Council of State
, elected by the
Assembly of the Republic
.
Decorations
[
edit
]
Family
[
edit
]
He was once married to Isabel Sousa Pires, born in
Figueira da Foz
, without issue, and is now married to Mafalda Maria de Campos Durao Ferreira, born in
Lisbon
, 13 December 1947, daughter of Antonio Durao Ferreira and wife Fernanda Furtado de Antas de Campos and only sister of Antonio Miguel de Campos Durao Ferreira (b. 21 January 1946, unmarried), and has three children:
[8]
- Francisco Durao Ferreira Alegre Duarte
- Afonso Durao Ferreira Alegre Duarte (b. 1976)
- Joana Durao Ferreira Alegre Duarte (b. 1985)
Electoral results
[
edit
]
2006 Portuguese presidential election
[
edit
]
Manuel Alegre finished second with 1,138,297 votes (20.74%).
[9]
2011 Portuguese presidential election
[
edit
]
Manuel Alegre finished second with 831,838 votes (19.74%).
[10]
Bibliography
[
edit
]
Poetry
- Praca da Cancao
(1965)
- O Canto e as Armas
(1967)
- Um Barco para Itaca
(1971)
- Letras
(1974)
- Coisa Amar, Coisas do Mar
(1976)
- Nova do Achamento
(1979)
- Atlantico
(1981)
- Babilonia
(1983)
- Chegar Aqui
(1984)
- Aicha Conticha
(1984)
- Obra Poetica, Vol. I, O Canto e as Armas
(1989)
- Obra Poetica, Vol. II, Atlantico
(1989)
- Rua de Baixo
(1990)
- A Rosa e o Compasso
(1991)
- Com que Pena
(1992)
- Sonetos do Obscuro Que
(1993)
- Coimbra Nunca Vista
(1995)
- Trinta Anos de Poesia
(1993)
- As Naus de Verde Pinho
(1996)
- Alentejo e Ninguem
(1996)
- Che
(1997)
- Senhora das Tempestades
(1998)
- Pico
(1998)
- Rouxinol do Mundo
(1998)
- Obra Poetica
(1999)
- Livro do Portugues Errante
(2001)
- Dialogos = Cristina Valada + Manuel Alegre
(2001)
Prose
- Jornada de Africa
(1989)
- O Homem do Pais Azul
(1989)
- Alma
(1995)
- Contra a Corrente
(1997)
- A Terceira Rosa
(1998)
- Uma Carga de Cavalaria
(1999)
- Arte de Marear
(2002)
- Cao Como Nos
(2002)
- Um Velho em Arzila
(2003)
- Rafael
(2004)
- O Quadrado
(2005)
- Tudo e, e nao e
(2013)
References
[
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]
External links
[
edit
]
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