Mário Moniz Pereira (February 11, 1921 – July 31, 2016) was a teacher, sportsman, athlete, coach,

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

and sports director. A noted athletics coach for both Sporting Clube de Portugal's (Sporting CP) athletics department and the Portuguese Athletics Federation where he worked as a technical director, he was also a vice president of Sporting CP. He was the coach of Olympic medalist

Carlos Lopes Carlos Alberto de Sousa Lopes (, born 18 February 1947) is a Portuguese former long-distance runner and world-record holder in the marathon. He won the Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon, marathon at the 1984 Summer Olym ...

, among other noted athletes. Established by Sporting Portugal, the international athletics meeting ''Meeting de Atletismo Professor Moniz Pereira'' is named in his honor.

Biography

Moniz Pereira was born and raised in Lisbon. He lived with his family in Rua Gomes Freire (street) where future prime minister and president of Portugal

Mário Soares Mário Alberto Nobre Lopes Soares (; 7 December 1924 – 7 January 2017) was a Portugal, Portuguese politician, who served as prime minister of Portugal from 1976 to 1978 and from 1983 to 1985, and subsequently as the List of Presidents of P ...

, about three years his junior, was his neighbour, and organized since an early age street athletics events with friends. Moniz Pereira's maternal grandfather was the owner of Central Cinema in

Avenida da Liberdade Avenida da Liberdade ( Portuguese for ''"Avenue of Liberty"'') is a boulevard in central Lisbon, Portugal. It ranks among the most expensive streets in Europe, with property costing over €9,000 per sqm. Originating in the '' Passeio Públic ...

where he used to spend some of his time watching movies including musicals. He studied at Liceu Camões high school and afterwards tried to enroll in the military academy together with his brother, but contrary to his brother he failed to get admission into the military academy due to his lack of proficiency in

algebra Algebra is a branch of mathematics that deals with abstract systems, known as algebraic structures, and the manipulation of expressions within those systems. It is a generalization of arithmetic that introduces variables and algebraic ope ...

. He then embraced the INEF (''Instituto Nacional de Educação Física'', which would later become the ''Faculdade de Motricidade Humana'' of the

Technical University of Lisbon The Technical University of Lisbon (UTL; , ) was a Portuguese public university. It was created in 1930 in Lisbon, as a confederation of preexisting schools, and comprised the faculties and institutes of veterinary medicine; agricultural scienc ...

) as a student in order to have an education in sports and

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

. Moniz Pereira became a sports teacher in the same place he had studied, working there for 27 years. Always a sportsman, he practiced

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

roller hockey Roller hockey is a form of hockey played on a dry surface using wheeled skates. It can be played with traditional roller skates (quad skates) or with inline skates and use either a ball or puck. Combined, roller hockey is played in nearly 60 cou ...

table tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

and

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

for sports club

Sporting Clube de Portugal Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

(Sporting CP), becoming a player of the

Portugal men's national volleyball team The Portugal men's national volleyball team is the team representing Portugal in volleyball competitions. Their best results to date are winning the 2010 Men's European Volleyball League in Spain, the second place in the 2007 Men's European Vo ...

as well, and later excelled in a long and fruitful career as an athletics coach for Sporting CP's athletics department. Moniz Pereira would become technical director of the Portuguese Athletics Federation and vice president of the entire sports club as well. In 1950, he had a brief spell as an athletics coach for the athletics section of the

Associação Académica de Coimbra The Associação Académica de Coimbra (AAC) is the students' union of the University of Coimbra (UC). Founded in Coimbra on November 3, 1887, it is the oldest students' union in Portugal. It is also the biggest Portuguese students' union belongin ...

, in

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ), officially the City of Coimbra (), is a city and a concelho, municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2021 census was 140,796, in an area of . The fourth-largest agglomerated urban area in Po ...

. After that he returned to Sporting CP's athletics department in Lisbon and, starting in 1967, became the only coach for

who would win three

World Cross Country Championships World Athletics Cross Country Championships is the most important competition in international cross country running. Formerly held annually and organised by World Athletics (formerly the IAAF), it was inaugurated in 1973, when it replaced the In ...

as well as the first Olympic gold medal ever for Portugal, competing in the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

in Los Angeles. In the

1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...

, Carlos Lopes had already won the first Olympic silver medal in the history of Portuguese sports, competing in the men's 10,000 metres.

Fernando Mamede Fernando Eugénio Pacheco Mamede, ComM (born 1 November 1951) is a former Portuguese athlete, a long distance running specialist. He held the 10,000 metres world record until 1989. Life and career He was born in Beja, started is sports ...

Domingos Castro Domingos Silva Castro (born 22 November 1963 in Fermentões-Guimarães) is a former long-distance runner from Portugal, who was one of the leading athletes in the longer events during the late 1980s, early 1990s. He won the silver medal in the ...

, Dionísio Castro,

Álvaro Dias Álvaro Dias may refer to: * Álvaro Costa Dias (born 1959), Brazilian politician, mayor of Natal (2018–present) * Alvaro Dias (born 1944), Brazilian politician, former senator of the state of Paraná (1999–2023), and governor (1987–1991) ...

, Manuel de Oliveira,

José Carvalho José Carvalho (born June 11, 1964 in Salvador, Brazil) is a Brazilian screenwriter, script doctor and dramaturgy professor. He has written scripts for the big and small screens since the early 90s. Some of his most well-known works include Caste ...

and Hélder de Jesus, were also some other Sporting CP's athletes coached by Moniz Pereira. Throughout his life, as a poet and songwriter, he was the author and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

of fados sung by famous Portuguese fadistas (fado singers) and other singers, like

Amália Rodrigues Amália da Piedade Rebordão Rodrigues (23 July 1920 – 6 October 1999), known as simply Amália Rodrigues () or popularly as Amália, was a Portuguese fado singer (''fadista''). Dubbed ''Rainha do Fado'' ("Queen of Fado"), she was instrumen ...

, Lucília do Carmo, João Braga, Maria da Fé, Rodrigo,

Carlos do Carmo Carlos Manuel de Ascenção do Carmo de Almeida (21 December 1939 – 1 January 2021), better known as Carlos do Carmo, was a Portuguese fado singer. The son of Lucília do Carmo, a well-known ''fadista'', do Carmo began his career in fado fol ...

, Tony de Matos,

Fernando Tordo Fernando Travassos Tordo (born 29 March 1948) is a Portuguese singer and songwriter. Since 2003, he has been a Commander of the Order of Merit, an honor bestowed on him by the Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio. Considered one of the most proli ...

Paulo de Carvalho Paulo de Carvalho (born 15 May 1947) is a Portuguese singer. Career Carvalho co-founded the band The Sheiks in 1965. He sang and played the drums. He also played an instrumental role, either as a founder or a guest, of many other important Port ...

and

Camané Carlos Manuel Moutinho Paiva dos Santos Duarte (born 20 December 1966), known professionally as Camané, is a Portuguese fado singer. Career He started gaining recognition in Portugal in 1979 after winning the 'Grande Noite do Fado' (Great F ...

, with songs like ''Valeu a Pena'', ''Fado Varina'', ''Rosa da Madragoa'', ''Rosa da Noite'', ''Não me Conformo'', ''Leio em teus Olhos'', among many others. He has 114 themes registered with the Portuguese Society of Authors (SPA).

Sports-related milestones' timeline and honors

Mário Moniz Pereira achieved notability in the world of sports across the years, this include:

Milestones

* 1939 – Joined Sporting CP as a table tennis player. * 1945 – Coached Sporting CP's athletics team and taught gymnastics and then volleyball. * 1948 – Participated in the first

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and officially branded as London 1948, were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus cau ...

in London. * 1956 – International Referee at the

1956 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship The 1956 FIVB Men's Volleyball World Championship, FIVB Men's World Championship was the third edition of the tournament, organised by the world's governing body, the FIVB. It was held from 30 August to 12 September 1956 in Paris, France. Teams ...

in Paris. * 1976 to 1983 – Director of the

National Stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football ...

. * 1982 – President of the Portuguese High Competition Support Commission (''Comissão de Apoio à Alta Competição''). * 1995 – vice president of Sporting CP appointed by

Pedro Santana Lopes Pedro Miguel de Santana Lopes (; born 29 June 1956) is a Portuguese lawyer and politician, who is the current mayor of Figueira da Foz. He most notably served as prime minister of Portugal from 2004 to 2005. Background and early life Ped ...

Honors

* 1974 and 1984 – Honoured with the Sports Merit Medal. * 1980 – Honoured with the Order of Infante D. Henrique. * 1984 – Honoured with the Commendation of the

Order of Public Instruction The Order of Public Instruction () is a Portuguese order of civil merit. Established in 1927, it is conferred upon deserving individuals for "high services rendered to education and teaching." History Established in April 1927 as the "Order of In ...

. * 1985 – Awarded the Gold Medal of Merit; Appointed Counsellor of the

. * 1988 – Awarded the

Olympic Order The Olympic Order, established in 1975, is the highest award of the Olympic Movement. It is awarded for particularly distinguished contributions to the Olympic Movement, i.e. recognition of efforts worthy of merit in the cause of sport. Tradit ...

. * 1991 – Honoured with the rank of Grand Officer of the

Order of Prince Henry the Navigator 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 ...

. * 2000 – Honoured by Sporting CP with the 'Golden Lion with Palm', the sports club's highest award. * 2001 – Received the Golden Emblem from the

European Athletics Association The European Athletic Association (EAA, more commonly known as European Athletics) is the governing body for athletics in Europe. It is one of the six Area Associations of the world's athletics governing body World Athletics. European Athletics h ...

- the highest individual honour in the sport. * 2009 – Honoured with the Sports Merit - High Prestige award from the Portuguese Sports Confederation. * 2013 –

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Januar ...

in the Merit and Excellence category.

Personal life

Moniz Pereira married Maria Carlota Moniz Pereira, a colleague from INEF, with whom he had five children. She died in 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moniz Pereira, Mario 1921 births 2016 deaths Portuguese educators Portuguese male athletes Portuguese songwriters Portuguese male songwriters Portuguese sports coaches Portuguese sportsmen Sporting CP Sportspeople from Lisbon 20th-century Portuguese sportsmen