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A doctor by training but primarily an intellectual, Jaime Cortesão was deeply committed to defending republican ideals and promoting culture. He combined the power of words with consistent action, engaging in various initiatives such as the creation of the journals Renascença Portuguesa, Lusitânia, Seara Nova, and the Universidade Popular do Porto [Popular University of Porto]. His participation in World War I as a volunteer doctor earned him the Military Cross. Upon his return, he was appointed director of the National Library, where he led an important debate on the purpose of this institution, allowing room for the opinions of his collaborators, particularly Raúl Proença, and other political comrades who, like Cortesão, had had to go into exile following the triumph of the Military Dictatorship on 28 May 1926, which paved the way for the Estado Novo regime under Salazar. Despite the significance of his political and cultural actions, it was Jaime Cortesão’s historiographical work that cemented his legacy, a vocation revealed during his tenure as director of the National Library, aligning his civic and political engagement with his worldview, amplified by his direct contact with the sources and documents he meticulously guarded in his role.
The revitalisation of the National Library under Jaime Cortesão’s directorship was particularly influenced by Raúl Proença, who had been familiar with the institution since his appointment as second curator in 1911. He had witnessed the contrasting administrations of Faustino da Fonseca and Fidelino Figueiredo, remaining steadfast in advocating for necessary reforms in the library’s technical services, including the standardisation of the cataloguing system, which was scattered across multiple different catalogues. Proença’s dedication to this technical aspect earned him the epithet “entry genius” and embroiled him in a series of controversies that, although focusing on his professional performance, had significant political undertones and various interlocutors, including Fidelino Figueiredo. Figueiredo succeeded Cortesão as director of the National Library when the latter, along with Raúl Proença, was forcibly removed from his position following his involvement in the revolutionary events of February 1927.
However, although political dimensions overshadowed the cultural nature of the debates in the so-called "Library Case," it was indeed a way of bringing discussions to the forefront on the role of the public library and the technical organisation of its collections. The primary focus of the National Library was the clash of ideas regarding the bridge between the scholarly, popular, and public.
