Portuguese American Journal

07/10/2025

CONGRATULATIONS!

The Portuguese pharmaceutical company Hovione has been distinguished with the Leonardo da Vinci Award 2025, an international recognition granted to outstanding family-owned enterprises. This marks the first time a Portuguese company has received the honor, which celebrates firms that combine long-term vision, innovation, and intergenerational continuity. Founded in 1959 by Ivan Villax, Hovione remains a family-run business now in its third generation, maintaining a strong commitment to research and sustainability while expanding its global reach.

Headquartered in Loures, near Lisbon, Hovione specializes in the development and manufacture of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), inhalation products, and advanced drug delivery technologies. The company operates production sites in Portugal, Ireland, Macau, and the United States, employing more than 2,000 people worldwide. Hovione’s success lies in its ability to merge scientific excellence with family values, fostering innovation while preserving a culture of integrity and collaboration.

More than half of Hovione’s pharmaceutical production is exported to the United States, making it one of Portugal’s leading exporters in the sector. Despite facing import tariffs of up to 15 percent, the company continues to strengthen its transatlantic ties and invest in research and development. The international recognition highlights not only Hovione’s role as a global pharmaceutical leader but also the growing influence of Portuguese industry in the competitive field of life sciences.
More @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hovione

07/10/2025

SAVE THE DATE!

WHEN: October 11 | 12:30 pm
WHERE: University of Massachusetts Lowell | O’Leary Library 528 or via Zoom
EVENT: A lecture, “Amilcar Cabral and the Lusophone Africa,” presented by Professor António Tomas, organized by the Saab Center for Portuguese Studies in partnership with the Department of Languages and History.
Event free and open to the public or via Zoom @ https://uml.zoom.us/j/99167617330

07/10/2025

SAVE THE DATE!
WHEN: November 6 | 6:00-8: 00 pm)
WHERE: New Bedford Whaling Museum
EEVENT: Professors Daniela Melo and Timothy Walker will present highlights from their new scholarly edition of Wilfred Burchett’s writing on Portugal’s 1974 “Carnation” Revolution—published in English for the first time by Verso Books (UK). Drawing on Burchett’s original English-language manuscripts discovered in the National Library of Australia, their illustrated talk explores the role of activist journalism in documenting the downfall of Europe’s longest-standing dictatorship and the grassroots mobilization that made it possible. They will sign books and share how we found the long-lost original manuscripts of Burchett's reporting on Portugal.
More @ https://www.whalingmuseum.org/program/the-captains-coup-activist-journalism-on-the-portuguese-revolution/?fbclid=IwY2xjawNR4hVleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHiRXmtchHA_23A-DU7XCp__CS5iOD77sgI4QZk0b_9yVNfbinDcsyelk-PKQ_aem_JVJqTBRDIFMxVmGUr5HAOw

Book also available @ https://amzn.to/4mUjcN9

07/10/2025

DID YOU KNOW?

Portugal stands among the nations with the world’s oldest continuously used national symbols, deeply rooted in nearly nine centuries of history. The country’s coat of arms, featuring the five blue shields with white dots known as the quinas, dates back to the reign of King Afonso I (Afonso Henriques) around 1139–1143, when Portugal gained independence from the Kingdom of León. Over the centuries, the design evolved to include the red border with castles and the armillary sphere, symbolizing Portugal’s maritime discoveries. These heraldic emblems have endured through monarchy, empire, and republic, representing one of the longest unbroken traditions of national identity in the world.

Although the modern Portuguese flag, with its red and green fields, was officially adopted after the 1910 Republican Revolution, it preserves the historical symbols of the armillary sphere and the royal coat of arms, both dating from the Age of Discoveries. This makes Portugal’s flag not merely a 20th-century emblem but a continuation of imagery that first adorned ships, maps, and fortresses across the globe in the 15th and 16th centuries. Similarly, the national anthem, A Portuguesa, created in 1890 and adopted in 1911, carries the patriotic spirit of Portugal’s quest for sovereignty and renewal.

In comparative terms, while Denmark’s Dannebrog (1219) is recognized as the world’s oldest continuously used flag, Portugal’s heraldic symbols predate most European equivalents, including England’s St. George’s Cross and Japan’s Rising Sun motif. Few nations have maintained such historical coherence between their medieval emblems and modern state identity. As a result, Portugal may not possess the single oldest flag, but it can rightfully claim to have the oldest continuously evolving set of national symbols, reflecting a legacy of independence, exploration, and cultural endurance that spans almost nine centuries. More @ https://www.facebook.com/ffms.pt
Book: https://ffms.pt/pt-pt/livraria/quinas-e-castelos-sinais-de-portugal

06/10/2025

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that all four Portuguese nationals are in good health but acknowledged that “the conditions of detention were difficult and raised serious humanitarian concerns.”

The four Portuguese citizens detained by Israeli authorities during the interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla to Gaza — Mariana Mortágua, Sofia Aparício, Miguel Duarte, and Diogo Chaves — have safely returned to Portugal. The

05/10/2025

“It’s a mystery and a love story, an aching, dreamlike immersion into the violent absurdities and racism of Portuguese colonialism in Africa by an author most Americans probably have never heard of.” — Carl Hoffman, The Washington Post, October 4, 2025

Diogo Santiago is a celebrated Mozambican poet and intellectual, a well-known professor at the university in his country’s capital. In 2019, on the eve of a cyclone that will devastate the East African coast, he

05/10/2025

The festival provides a meeting point between tradition and innovation, featuring performances by artists from Portugal and abroad.

On its 10th edition, Madalena do Pico, Azores, once again presents the CORDAS World Music Festival,  from October 1–11 across multiple venues.  Organized by MiratecArts, CORDAS continues its mission of uniting artists and audiences from

05/10/2025

SAVE THE DATE!

WHEN: October 19 through November 23, 2025
WHERE: Online via Zoom
EVENT: A Short Course on Herman Melville’s Moby Dick will be offered by a select community of writers who are going to read and discuss, chapter by chapter, Moby Dick, by Herman Melville. Sessions will be recorded and will be available for later viewing by registered participants for 30 days following the final session. For further details and registration, visit “50 Community of Writers” @ https://communityofwriters.org/melville-short-course/

05/10/2025

TODAY IN HISTORY!

After years of growing discontent, on October 5, 1910, Portugal underwent one of the most significant transformations in its history: the overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of the First Portuguese Republic. A republican coup d’état broke out in Lisbon between the night of October 4 and the morning of October 5. As revolutionaries gained control of key positions in the capital, the Republic was formally proclaimed from the balcony of the Lisbon City Hall (Paços do Concelho), marking the dawn of a new political era.

King Manuel II (1839-1932), the last monarch of the Bragança dynasty, fled into exile in England, bringing to an end more than seven centuries of monarchical rule in Portugal. The newly formed republican government introduced sweeping reforms to modernize the country, including the separation of church and state, the expansion of civil liberties, and the creation of secular public education, reflecting the ideals of progress and civic renewal that republican leaders embraced.

The young Republic established new national symbols that would embody this break with the monarchical past. A new flag and anthem—A Portuguesa—were officially adopted, the latter becoming a rallying cry for the republican cause and later the national anthem. The events of October 5, 1910, remain deeply embedded in Portugal’s collective memory, commemorated each year as Republic Day (Implantação da República), a national holiday. More @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5_October_1910_revolution

03/10/2025

TODAY IN HISTORY!

On October 3, 1831, the island of Terceira, Azores, stood at the very heart of the Portuguese Liberal Wars (1828-1834), a turbulent conflict between supporters of Absolutism under Dom Miguel (1802-1866) and advocates of Constitutional Monarchy led by Dom Pedro (1798-1894), Emperor of Brazil and former King of Portugal. In the city of Angra do Heroísmo, liberal exiles consolidated their forces, establishing the Azores as the primary bastion of resistance against Miguelite power.

Terceira became a refuge for thousands of liberals, intellectuals, and military officers who had fled persecution on the mainland. It was here that the Constitutional Charter of 1826 was upheld, and plans were laid for the famous “Brigada da Ilha Terceira” (Terceira Brigade) that would later embark for the mainland to fight in the civil war. The victory of liberal forces in the Battle of Praia da Vitória (1829) , secured Terceira’s reputation as the symbolic "Cradle of Freedom."

This illustrates the Azores’ role not merely as a peripheral territory but as a decisive stage in Portugal’s national destiny, with the support from allies abroad, including Britain and France, and to prepare the eventual landing at Mindelo (1832), which launched the final campaign against Dom Miguel. By safeguarding the liberal cause, the Azores earned the enduring title of “Cradle of Portuguese Liberty”, a distinction that continues to shape the region’s civic pride and identity today.
More @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_Wars

03/10/2025

FABRIC has established itself as a multidisciplinary platform for contemporary art and cultural dialogue between Portugal and its Azorean diaspora in New England, exploring connections across borders.

The FABRIC Arts Festival returns to New England, October 9–12, transforming Fall River (MA) and Providence (RI) into vibrant stages for art, performances, gastronomy, and cultural events.  In its sixth edition, the festival, directed by

02/10/2025

SAVE THE DATE!

WHEN: October 11th | 8:00 pm
WHERE: Stern Auditorium. Perelman Stage, Carnegie Hall, New York City
EVENT: A tribute to the life and work of Amália Rodrigues, “Amália in America – Beyond Fado” premieres at the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York, one of the most renowned concert halls in North America. Celebrating the Queen of Fado is part of an initiative by Égide, Portuguese Association of the Arts, marking the closing of the celebrations for the 40th anniversary of the Luso-American Development Foundation (FLAD), in partnership with Teatro Nacional de São Carlos. Tickets are now available @ carnigehall.org
More @ https://portuguese-american-journal.com/flad-40years.../...