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Joel Serrão (1919-2008), who held a degree in History and Philosophy of Science from the Faculty of Letters of the University of Lisbon, was a teacher in secondary education (Viseu, Funchal, Setúbal, and Lisbon) and higher education (Higher Institute and Faculty of Social and Human Sciences of the New University of Lisbon) and administrator of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. From a historiographical standpoint, "he distinguished himself in the sixties by assuming the planning and direction of the monumental Dicionário de História de Portugal (four volumes, published between 1963 and 1971), in which he also collaborated with numerous entries" (António Reis, "Serrão, Joel", 1996, p. 902). The above-mentioned Dictionary, which included the collaboration of practically all the most accredited researchers of the time, greatly contributed to the renewal of our historiography in the third quarter of the twentieth century (José Amado Mendes, “A renovação...”, 1996, pp. 318-320). Other themes of economic history that were investigated include the following: emigration, transport, electricity, mills, steam engines, and industrialisation (Serrão, 1959-1962). Almost at the end of the chronological period of this Dictionary, among other historians of reference, I also recall Miriam Halpern Pereira, with her well-known work Livre-Câmbio e desenvolvimento económico. Portugal na segunda metade do século XIX [Free Trade and Economic Development: Portugal in the Second Half of the 19th Century] (1971), and António de Oliveira, with the innovative work A vida económica e social de Coimbra de 1537 a 1640 [The Economic and Social Life of Coimbra from 1537 to 1640] (1971). More recently, in a study entitled "As Histórias da minha geração" ["The Stories of My Generation"], the author also provides relevant elements regarding the evolution of economic history in Portugal over the last century. The great development of economic history—as a science but also as a discipline for teaching—was noted after the April 25, 1974, era. Only examples of the most significant developments are mentioned here. Some synthesis works were published, including História Económica de Portugal. Uma perspectiva global [Economic History of Portugal: A Global Perspective] (1994) by N. Valério and M. Eugènia Mata, and História Económica [Economic History] (2005) by P. Lains and Álvaro F. Silva. In the field of business history, in addition to monographs on the history of several companies, works such as Empresas e Empresários [Companies and Entrepreneurs] (coordinated by Mendes and Filipe, 2004) and Dicionário de História Empresarial nos séculos XIX e XX: I ‒ Instituições Bancárias; II ‒ Seguradoras [Dictionary of Business History in the 19th and 20th Centuries: I—Banking Institutions; II—Insurance Companies" (Faria and Mendes, 2013-2014) were published.
