JOSÉ TENGARRINHA

(1932 – 2018)

Only great personalities are capable of passing through the “diabolical forces” that populate political experience without burning their souls. The statement is made by Viriato Soromenho Marques regarding Tengarrinha, whose life was marked by the value of freedom and by two passions: the “generous civic gift in favor of public debate” and a dedication to knowledge.

He was a journalist, researcher, teacher, politician and always, according to Viriato Soromenho Marques, an insatiable intellectual and curious “about topics, people, the world”. He put his life – adds that researcher and professor of Philosophy – at the service of the freedom that he courageously lost, several times, in the dungeons of the political police (PIDE). He was one of the political prisoners released from Caxias Prison on the night of April 27, 1974, following the “Carnation Revolution”.

José Manuel Tengarrinha began his career as a journalist in 1953 at the República newspaper, and five years later (1958) he completed his degree in Historical and Philosophical Sciences at the Faculty of Letters of the University of Lisbon. He was also part of the editorial staff of the magazines Vértice and Seara Nova and the newspaper Diário Ilustrado where, between 1959 and 1962, he held the position of editor-in-chief and from where he was compulsorily removed following his arrest, in the Aljube Prison, by PIDE. Previously, when carrying out his mandatory military service, he had been detained for around a year in the Penamacor Disciplinary Company.

Prevented from working as a journalist or teaching, he had to resort to translations to survive.

Despite persecution, torture and imprisonment, he never abandoned the political struggle. Always in the ranks of the democratic opposition to the Estado Novo, he participated in all the electoral battles held between 1958 and 1974, having been a candidate for the National Assembly, for the Lisbon circle, in the elections held on the occasion of the so-called Marcelismo (1969 and 1973), through the CDE – Democratic Electoral Commission (later MDP/CDE), a movement of which he was one of the founders and its main leader.

He was a “prominent figure” in the organization of the 1969 Republican Congress and the III Congress of the Democratic Opposition, held in Aveiro, in April 1973.

Grantee from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, with the aim of carrying out studies on 19th century Portugal, he was distinguished, in 1962, with the Prize from the Association of Men of Letters of Porto, for his work on Rodrigues Sampaio (1806-1882), journalist and (liberal) politician who was a deputy, minister and head of the Government.

With Joel Serrão, José-Augusto França and Vitorino Nemésio and the sponsorship of Gulbenkian, he founded, in 1969, the Center for 19th Century Studies of the Grémio Literário, which he directed and kept active until 1974, through, in particular, carrying out numerous activities, research and cultural promotion actions, such as colloquiums, courses, debates and conferences.

One of the “greatest joys” of his life, however, occurred a few days after April 25th, when, as Soromenho Marques recalls, in a plenary of students, it was decided to “welcome” his name as a professor at the Faculty of Letters of University of Lisbon. There he received his doctorate, in 1993, with a thesis on “popular agrarian movements in Portugal”, between the years 1750 and 1825, he taught “central classes” for the understanding of contemporary Portuguese History, particularly in the socio-economic domain, and was a full professor .

With the MDP/CDE constituted as a political party, he was elected deputy to the Constituent Assembly (1975-76) and, between 1977 and 1987, to the Assembly of the Republic, through the FEPU (United People Electoral Front) coalition, which, created by the PCP, MDP /CDE and Popular Socialist Front, gave rise, in April 1978, to the APU (United People's Alliance), later (1987) dissolved, due to differences between the founding parties (PCP, MDP and “Os Verdes”).

In 1987, he abandoned active political life (not, however, civic life), dedicating himself in a special way to his academic vocation, with a work, greatly expanded, gaining deserved repercussion, particularly at the level of Social Sciences and History. To the point that, according to José Esteves, it is absolutely “fundamental” and “urgent” to carry out an in-depth study of his works, particularly in the area of ​​historiography, where, according to that historian's opinion, we are really dealing with a “methodical” and “pioneer” research about the labor movements of the 19th century.

What is specifically involved is a look at social struggles, rural and urban conflicts, in studies that result in a symbiosis between the historian's research and his civic consciousness. As he himself stated, in an interview given to Fernando Assis Pacheco, for RTP, his interest in the 19th century was a consequence of his concern for the Present, of the desire to try to understand problems of Portuguese society through the analysis of a nearby Past.

Among his numerous published works, should be mentioned: Studies in the Contemporary History of Portugal; Popular agrarian movements in Portugal – 1725-1825 (his PhD thesis); History of the Civil Government of Lisbon; And where are the people? Popular politics, counter-revolution and reform in Portugal and José Estêvão: the man and the work. In Brazil, he published A Portuguese Historiography, Today; Contemporary Portuguese historiography and History of Portugal. Numerous reprints signed by him were published by Italian, French, Dutch and Spanish universities, in addition to Portuguese ones.

To these titles, we will have to add several others previously published, such as, for example, A soap opera and the Portuguese reader. Study of sociology of reading; The Revolution of 1820. Manuel Fernandes Tomás; Civil War Diary. Sá da Bandeira or Fights for Democracy.

In addition to being a visiting professor at the University of São Paulo (Brazil); having directed and/or taught doctoral and master's courses in Portugal and at numerous foreign universities, such as Florence, Bologna, Paris VII, Autónoma de Barcelona, ​​Carlos III of Madrid, Nantes, Seville, Bilbao or the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences of Paris among others, José Tengarrinha was also a member of the writing and editorial boards of magazines published in Portugal, Spain and Brazil. He directed the International Summer Courses, held annually in Cascais; he was one of the founders of the International Center for Heritage Conservation (CICOP – Portugal), with global headquarters in Tenerife (Spain), of which he was coordinator for Europe and presided over the Institute of Culture and Social Studies.