Alfredo Augusto Lopes Pimenta (3 December 1882,
Guimarães – 15 October 1950,
Lisbon) was a
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
historian, poet and writer.
Biography
Alfredo Pimenta, son of José Manuel Lopes Pimenta and Silvina Rosa, was born at Penouços in
São Mamede de Alda, Guimarães. In 1890, living at
Braga
Braga ( , ; cel-x-proto, Bracara) is a city and a municipality, capital of the northwestern Portuguese district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality has a resident population of 193,333 inhabitants (in ...
with his parents, he attended the
Colégio Académico de Guadalupe. In 1893 he returned to Guimaraes and studied at the College of St. Nicholas. In 1910, he graduated in Law from the
University of Coimbra
The University of Coimbra (UC; pt, Universidade de Coimbra, ) is a public research university in Coimbra, Portugal. First established in Lisbon in 1290, it went through a number of relocations until moving permanently to Coimbra in 1537. The u ...
and was a professor at the
Liceu Passos Manuel in
Lisbon from 1911 to 1913. On 22 December 1931 he became director of the Municipal Archive of Guimarães. He was a founding member of the Portuguese Institute of Archaeology, History and Ethnography in 1953 and the
Portuguese Academy of History in 1937.
Initially a militant
anarchist, he later moved toward
republicanism
Republicanism is a political ideology centered on citizenship in a state organized as a republic. Historically, it emphasises the idea of self-rule and ranges from the rule of a representative minority or oligarchy to popular sovereignty. It ...
. After the founding of the Republic, he joined the Partido Republicano Evolucionista. In 1915 he appeared as a contributor of the
Portuguese Nation magazine, organ of the political philosophy of
Integralismo Lusitano
''Integralismo Lusitano'' (English: "Lusitanian Integralism") was a Portuguese integralist political movement founded in Coimbra in 1914 that advocated traditionalism but not conservatism. It was against parliamentarism but favoured decentraliza ...
, and ended up becoming a militant monarchist and became a prominent counselor. This passage toward the monarchy occurred soon after the coup of 14 May 1915, which overthrew the government of
Pimenta de Castro, supported by evolutionists. He later converted to
Roman Catholicism.
He suggested a reconciliation between the theses of
Auguste Comte and the
neo-Thomist
Neo-scholasticism (also known as neo-scholastic Thomism Accessed 27 March 2013 or neo-Thomism because of the great influence of the writings of Thomas Aquinas on the movement) is a revival and development of medieval scholasticism in Catholic t ...
s. He founded the
Acção Realista Portuguesa in 1923, breaking ideologically with ''Integralismo Lusitano'', to which had never formally belonged. He come to admire
Salazar, and praised
fascism
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...
and
Nazism
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) i ...
. After the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, he complained of the harassment of the Nazis, implying the existence of
concentration camp
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...
s among the
Allies. He joined The Voice, which advocated the restoration of the monarchy but as a sort of crowning of the
Estado Novo, which contrasted with the time he wrote ''Mentira Monarchica'' (''Monarchist Lies'') in 1906.
He was a renowned political theorist and historian, and his most enduring contribution was in the field of history, especially of the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
.
Selected published works
* 1906 - ''Mentira Monarchica'' (Monarchist Lies)
* 1908 - ''Factos sociais'' - (Social Facts)
* 1911 - ''Aos conservadores portugueses'' - (To the conservative Portuguese)
* 1912 - ''Na Torre da Ilusão'' (In the Tower of Illusion)
* 1913 - ''As Igrejas eo Estado'' - (The Churches and the State)
* 1913 - ''Política portuguesa'' - (Portuguese Politics)
* 1914 - ''Alma Ajoelhada'' - (Soul Kneeling)
* 1914 - ''A doutrina de Drago ea 2ª Conferência da Paz'' - (The doctrine of Drago and 2nd Peace Conference)
* 1915 - ''A significação filosófica da Guerra Europeia.'' ''O imperialismo contemporâneo'' - (The philosophical significance of the European War. Contemporary imperialism)
* 1934 - ''História de Portugal'' - (History of Portugal)
* 1936 - ''D. João III'' - (John III)
* 1937 - ''Subsídios Para a História de Portugal'' - (Grants for the History of Portugal)
* 1937–1948 - ''Estudos Históricos (série de 25 pequenos ensaios)'' - (Historical Studies (series of 25 short essays)
References
*Portugal Século XX - Portugueses Célebres, Lisboa: Círculo de Leitores, 2003, page 240
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pimenta, Alfredo
20th-century Portuguese historians
Portuguese male writers
1882 births
1950 deaths
People from Guimarães
Converts to Roman Catholicism
Portuguese Roman Catholics
University of Coimbra alumni
20th-century male writers