Dionísio Mendes de Sousa (born 9 October 1940) is a Portuguese politician, writer, educator, and former president of the

Legislative Assembly of the Azores The Legislative Assembly of the Azores () is the regional assembly/legislature of the Azores, an autonomous region of Portugal. History The regional legislative assembly, since it was first instituted, has maintained its seat in the city of Ho ...

Biography

Sousa was born in

Vila de São Sebastião Vila de São Sebastião, commonly shortened to São Sebastião ( Portuguese for Saint Sebastian), is a civil parish in the municipality of Angra do Heroísmo, on the island of Terceira in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. The population in ...

Angra do Heroísmo Angra do Heroísmo (), or simply Angra, is a city and municipality on Terceira Island, Portugal, and one of the three capital cities of the Azores. Founded in 1478, Angra was historically the most important city in the Azores, as seat of the Roma ...

, on the

Azorean The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two Autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaro ...

island of

Terceira Terceira () is a volcanic island in the Azores archipelago, about a third of the way across the North Atlantic Ocean at a similar latitude to Portugal's capital Lisbon, with the island group forming an insular part of Portugal. It is one of the ...

. Following his primary education, Mendes studied at the Episcopal Seminary in Angra do Heroísmo from October 1952 to June 1964. In his course work he obtained high marks—around 16 out of a scale of 20—in more than half of his disciplines.

Academic career

Between 1965 and 1968 he was conscripted into mandatory military service and stationed at various military installations, including the main army barracks in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

. During his military service he frequented classes at the Faculty of Letters at the

University of Lisbon The University of Lisbon (ULisboa; ) is a public university, public research university in Lisbon, and Portugal's largest university. It was founded in 1911, but the university's present structure dates to the 2013 merger of the former Universit ...

, obtaining a licentiate diploma in philosophy. By the 1969-70 term, he was teaching history at the secondary school ''Liceu Padre António Vieira'' and Portuguese at the ''Externato Séneca'' in Lisbon. In 1971 he took courses in pedagogical sciences at the University of Lisbon. Between 1971 and 1974 he participated in night classes as working student at the ''Instituto Superior de Economia'' (ISEF) while working as the personnel services director at Transul – Empresa de Transportes in the southern

Tagus The Tagus ( ; ; ) is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. The river rises in the Montes Universales between Cuenca and Teruel, in mid-eastern Spain, flows , generally westward, and empties into the Atlantic Ocean in Lisbon. Name T ...

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime enviro ...

. During the 1976-1977 school year he taught psychology and philosophy at the ''Liceu de

Almada Almada () is a city and a municipality in Portugal, located on the southern margin of the Tagus River, on the opposite side of the river from Lisbon. The two cities are connected by the 25 de Abril Bridge. The population of the municipality in 20 ...

'' secondary school, while during the 1977-1978 school term he was teaching intern at the ''Liceu

Antero de Quental Antero Tarquínio de Quental (; old spelling ''Anthero''; 18 April 184211 September 1891) was a Portuguese poet, philosopher, and writer. Quental is regarded as one of the greatest poets of his generation and is recognized as one of the most inf ...

'' in

Ponta Delgada Ponta Delgada (; ) is the largest municipality (''concelho'') and executive capital of the Autonomous Region of the Azores in Portugal. It is located on São Miguel Island, the largest and most populous in the archipelago. As of 2021, it has 67,2 ...

. For the 1978-1979 school year he returned to Terceira, working at the ''Liceu de Angra do Heroísmo'', becoming the president of the executive council there in the 1979-1980 school year.

Politician

During the regional elections of 5 October 1980 Sousa was elected to the regional Legislative Assembly of the Azores as an independent. In 1982 he became a member of the PS Azores. Between 1980 and 2004, he served as a regional deputy during six legislatures. He was president of the PS parliamentary group between 1981 and 1992. In various legislatures he was the president of the Permanent Commission of the Regional Assembly on Social and Economic Affairs. Between 1982 and 2004, he exercised various party positions within the PS at the local, regional, and national levels, including regional secretariat of the PS, member of the Regional and National Commissions of the PS, member of the municipal assembly of Angra do Heroísmo, president (for eight years) of the PS parliamentary group, candidate for the municipal council of Angra (1989), and President of the PS Azores. From 1996 to 1998 he was elected President of the Regional Legislative Assembly of the Azores. On 3 September 2001, he was awarded the Grand Cross of the

Order of Prince Henry The Order of Prince Henry () is a Portuguese order of knighthood created on 2 June 1960, to commemorate the quincentenary of the death of the Portuguese ''infante'' Prince Henry the Navigator, one of the main initiators of the Age of Discovery. M ...

by former President of the Republic

Jorge Sampaio Jorge Fernando Branco de Sampaio (; 18 September 1939 – 10 September 2021) was a Portuguese lawyer and politician who was the 18th President of Portugal from 1996 to 2006. Sampaio was a member of the Socialist Party, a party which he ...

. From 2002 to 2004 he was president of the Rádio Clube de Angra (Radio Club of Angra) and, in 2004, obtained his pension for his work as secondary school professor. On 11 May 2006 during a meeting of the regional assembly, the assembly unanimously voted to award Dionísio Mendes with the Autonomic Insignia of Valor for his contributions to the Azores.

Writer

Since 1980 Mendes has been involved in Azorean newspapers and other media, including ''A União'', ''

Diário Insular ''Diário Insular'' (''Island Daily'') is a Portuguese newspaper, published daily from Angra do Heroísmo, island of Terceira in the archipelago of the Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one o ...

'', ''Açores Expresso'', ''

Correio dos Açores ''Correio dos Açores'' (''Azores Post'') is a Portugal, Portuguese newspaper, published daily from Ponta Delgada, in the archipelago of the Azores. History The periodical had its beginnings in the founding of the newspaper ''República'', estab ...

'', and the ''Projecto Autonómico de Aristides da Mota (31 March 1892)'' In 2013, he provided the preface and edited the work ''Testamento Poético'' ("Poetic Testament") of Coelho de Sousa. On his own, Dionísio Mendes was responsible for ''Achegas sobre a Autonomia'' and ''Livro de Bagatelas'', which were followed on 14 January 2014 by the trimestral publication ''Boa Nova'', the first journal edited in Vila de São Sebastião.

Personal life

Dionísio married Maria Doralice Barcelos Falcão Sousa in 1974. The couple has two children: Ana Rita Falcão de Sousa, and José Duarte Falcão de Sousa. Dioníso is the author of various blogs, including ''O Ventilhador'' and ''Álamo Esguio''.

References

;Notes {{DEFAULTSORT:Sousa, Dionisio Mendes de Presidents of the Legislative Assembly of the Azores People from Angra do Heroísmo Socialist Party (Portugal) politicians 1940 births Living people