José Gregório (born 19 March 1908, in Marinha Grande; died March 1961 in Prague) was a Portuguese glassmaker in

Marinha Grande Marinha Grande () is a municipality in the Leiria District, Portugal. The population in 2021 was 39,032, in an area of 187.25 km². The city itself has a population of 32,330. It is located right in the middle of the 700-year-old Leiria pine ...

, a center of the glass industry in the country, a

trade unionist A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

and a member of the

Portuguese Communist Party The Portuguese Communist Party (, , PCP) is a Communism, communist and Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist List of political parties in Portugal, political party in Portugal. It is one of the strongest List of communist parties, communist par ...

. He became notable for being one of the leaders of the labour strike his hometown against the dictatorial regime in 1934. During the 1930s, the Party was the major force in the resistance against the dictatorial regime led by

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 ...

. After the approval by the government of a law forbidding the free trade unions, several strikes and riots began all over the country. In Marinha Grande, the workers, in a riot led by the Gregório and other members of the Party, controlled the entire town. Only a massive intervention by the military ended the strike. In 1938, Gregório was arrested by the PIDE, the political police, and was tortured for several times during his imprisonment. Released in 1940, Gregório had an important role in the reorganization of the Party in the early 1940s. In 1943, he became a member of the Party's

secretariat Secretariat may refer to: * Secretariat (administrative office) * Secretariat (horse) Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse who was the ninth winn ...

and presented reports related to the Party's work among the trade unions in the 3rd and 4th congresses. José Gregório died in 1961, after living more than 20 years clandestinely, due to the persecution of the political police. Portuguese Wiki reports that in 1956, already seriously ill for cardiac reasons, he emigrated to Czechoslovakia for treatment, dying 5 years later in March 1961 in Prague. On January 18, 1975, his remains were taken to his homeland, with thousands at the funeral ceremony

References

* 1908 births People from Marinha Grande Portuguese anti-fascists Portuguese Communist Party politicians 1961 deaths {{Portugal-bio-stub