His biographical journey was always closely connected to political and journalistic activity, as well as historical studies. He was born in Portimão on 12 April 1932 and attended secondary school in Faro, completing his studies at the Lycée Charles Lepierre in Lisbon, where he moved at the age of 17. He became involved early on in intense political opposition to the ruling regime, joining the MUD Juvenil (Youth Movement for Democratic Unity) while still in the Algarve. Years later, he was imprisoned in the Penamacor penal colony after being expelled from the militia officer corps, accused of engaging in political acts deemed a threat to state security. A member of the opposition to both the Salazarist and Marcel l ist governments, he was active in the MUD and was one of the founders of the Movimento Democrático Português [Portuguese Democratic Movement] in 1960. Throughout his life, he was arrested multiple times by the political police (PIDE), and during the Carnation Revolution on 25 April 1974, he was in solitary confinement at the Caxias prison. He was released two days later. Returning to the 1950s, during his intermittent attendance at university, interrupted by his political and journalistic activities, he developed a keen interest in 19th-century history—a research topic he revisited throughout his academic career. He contributed to the journal Vértice and, from 1953, worked as a professional journalist for the newspaper República . In 1956, he joined the editorial staff of the newly founded Diário Ilustrado . In 1958, he earned a degree in Histor y and Philosoph y Sciences from the Faculty of Arts of the University of Lisbon, with a thesis titled António Rodrigues Sampaio, Desconhecido [António Rodrigues Sampaio, the Unknown]. Two years later, he became editor-in-chief of the Diário Ilustrado , but in December of the same year, he was arrested for political reasons.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | (Pdf)