José Adriano Pequito Rebelo (21 May 1892 in

Gavião, Portugal Gavião (), officially the Town of Gavião (), is a Portuguese municipality in the District of Portalegre, in the historical region of Alentejo. The population in 2011 was 4,132, in an area of 294.59 km2. The municipality is bounded by Ma ...

– 22 January 1983 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 ...

) was a Portuguese writer, politician and aviator.

Early life

Born into a

monarchist Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. C ...

family, Pequito Rebelo studied law at

University of Coimbra The University of Coimbra (UC; , ) is a Public university, 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 university ...

where he followed in the family's political footsteps.

Philip Rees Philip Rees (born 1941) is a British writer and librarian formerly in charge of acquisitions at the J. B. Morrell Library, University of York. He has written books on fascism and the extreme right. Works *'' Fascism in Britain'' (Harvester P ...

, ''

Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890 The ''Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890'' is a reference book by Philip Rees, on leading people in the various far right movements since 1890. It contains entries for what the author regards as "the 500 major figures on the ...

'', 1990, p. 293 He followed his family into exile in the early 1910s to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and whilst there became converted to the ''

Action Française ''Action Française'' (, AF; ) is a French far-right monarchist and nationalist political movement. The name was also given to a journal associated with the movement, '' L'Action Française'', sold by its own youth organization, the Camelot ...

'' school of monarchism.

Integralismo

On his return to Portugal in 1914 he became a founder of

Integralismo Lusitano ''Integralismo Lusitano'' (English: "Lusitanian Integralism") was a Portugal, Portuguese integralism, integralist political movement founded in Coimbra in 1914 that advocated Traditionalist conservatism, traditionalism but not conservatism. I ...

along with

José Hipólito Raposo José Hipólito Raposo (13 February 1885 – 26 August 1953) was a Portugal, Portuguese politician, writer, lawyer and historian born in Castelo Branco Municipality, São Vicente da Beira. Integralism He was educated at the University of Coi ...

, Alberto Monsaraz and

António Sardinha António Sardinha (9 September 1887 in Monforte, Portalegre – 10 January 1925 in Elvas) was a Portuguese writer and leading theorist of the movement known as Integralismo Lusitano. His worldview was strongly conservative. Early politics Sardi ...

. Uniquely amongst this leadership Pequito Rebelo enlisted in the

Portuguese Expeditionary Corps The Portuguese Expeditionary Corps (CEP, Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Corpo Expedicionário Português'') was the main expeditionary force from Portugal that fought in the Western Front (World War I), Western Front, during World War I. Port ...

during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, whilst also writing extensively for the integralist journals, often on the theme of his hatred for urbanism. Pequito Rebelo was involved in the monarchist uprising of 1919 and suffered serious wounds in the fighting. However, when brought to trial for his involvement he was surprisingly exonerated.

New ideals

Pequito Rebelo's ideas appeared to radicalise with age as he came under the influence of

Georges Valois Georges Valois (; born Alfred-Georges Gressent; 7 October 1878 – February 1945) was a French journalist and national syndicalist politician. He was a member of the French Resistance and died in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Lif ...

and took to writing for the

syndicalist Syndicalism is a labour movement within society that, through industrial unionism, seeks to unionize workers according to industry and advance their demands through strikes and other forms of direct action, with the eventual goal of gainin ...

paper ''Politico''. He looked set for a switch to the

National Syndicalists National syndicalism is a socially far-right adaptation of syndicalism within the broader agenda of integral nationalism. National syndicalism developed in France in the early 20th century, and then spread to Italy, Spain, and Portugal. Fra ...

but again changed his mind and became a loyalist for

António de Oliveira Salazar António de Oliveira Salazar (28 April 1889 – 27 July 1970) was a Portuguese statesman, academic, and economist who served as Portugal's President of the Council of Ministers of Portugal, President of the Council of Ministers from 1932 to 1 ...

. The two enjoyed a fairly cordial personal relationship and in 1932 Pequito Rebelo advised Salazar to abandon the Portuguese constitution and establish a new order in the country. They remained in regular correspondence throughout the 1930s.de Meneses, ''Salazar'', p. 194

Adventurism

Left somewhat restless by his support for the government Pequito Rebelo volunteered as an aviator in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

on the side of

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...

. In later years he became a leading advocate of

colonialism Colonialism is the control of another territory, natural resources and people by a foreign group. Colonizers control the political and tribal power of the colonised territory. While frequently an Imperialism, imperialist project, colonialism c ...

and in 1961, despite his age, volunteered for pilot duties against pro-independence guerrillas in

Portuguese Angola In southwestern Africa, Portuguese Angola was a historical Evolution of the Portuguese Empire, colony of the Portuguese Empire (1575–1951), the overseas province Portuguese West Africa of Estado Novo (Portugal), Estado Novo Portugal (1951–1 ...

. He continued writing until his death in 1983.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rebelo, Jose Adriano Pequito 1892 births 1983 deaths People from Gavião, Portugal Integralismo Lusitano Portuguese anti-communists Portuguese monarchists Portuguese aviators Portuguese politicians Portuguese soldiers Portuguese male non-fiction writers Portuguese military personnel of World War I Portuguese people of the Spanish Civil War University of Coimbra alumni Foreign volunteers in the Spanish Civil War (National faction)