As part of the celebrations for the 50th anniversary of April 25, 1974, the Marvão Municipal Museum is kicking off these ephemeris with another commemoration in which Freedom Day finds its roots, the Implantation of the Republic.
On October 5, at 10:30 a.m., the Municipal Museum of Marvão will open a small temporary exhibition alluding to the Implantation of the Republic and, at the same time, remembering the Federalist Republican José Carrilho Videira, a native of Marvão, through a biographical note, excerpts from his ideology and some objects that belonged to him or related to him.
As Marvão commemorates October 5, 1910, the day the Republic was established, “we must remember the illustrious Marvanense who fought all his life for republican ideals, José Carrilho Videira”, says the Marvão City Council in the press release sent to our newsroom.
He was one of the most influential promoters of the republican movement in Portugal. Greatly influenced by the more revolutionary ideas that were circulating in Europe in the second half of the 19th century, he argued that Portugal should abolish the Monarchy and establish a Federal Democratic Republic, similar to what was already happening in Switzerland.
He was born in Rua do Castelo, in the parish of Santa Maria de Marvão, on November 6, 1845. He was the son of João Carvalho Videira (Santo António das Areias) and Teresa de Jesus (Castelo de Vide), and died on August 25, 1905, in Santo António das Areias, where his remains are kept.
With the most powerful weapon invented by man, writing, he dedicated his entire life to the Republican Cause, spreading the ideals of a freer, more equal and more united world through his writings or by editing texts by other thinkers. His thoughts were published in dozens of national and international publications and he corresponded with the greatest intellectuals and politicians of his time, such as Victor Hugo.
Due to his very advanced thinking for the time, he died alone, disillusioned and destitute, after having spent all the income from his work as a publisher and bookseller, as well as the property he had inherited on the death of his wife and parents, except for Casa Branca, in Asseiceira, Santo António das Areias, on spreading republican ideas.
As his body fell to the ground in the cemetery of Santo António das Areias, his friend Matos Magalhães said movingly: “Your life can hardly be described in a book – it was so tumultuous and bumpy – but it can be summed up in one sentence – you were a visionary of justice (…) You didn’t want any fuss at your funeral – you only asked for a sheet to cover your naked body (…) You didn’t see your ideal being realized here, but you died fighting for it – it was as if you had realized it. You never backed down, it was death that rushed in. Rest in peace!”
If Portugal and Brazil are democratic republics today, they owe a great deal to José Carrilho Videira.
