José Carlos Vasconcelos: "At 4 years old, in 1994, I remember walking around with my parents putting stickers on the windows because at the time it was reported in the newspapers that Portugal could be bombed"

José Carlos Vasconcelos was born and raised in Póvoa de Varzim, where he always lived. In 1994, when he was only 4 years old, he remembers going with his parents to put stickers on the windows of their home, after hearing on the news that Portugal could be targeted by bombings.

In his youth, he attended Coimbra, where he became actively involved in the academic struggles of 1961, dedicating himself to defending the rights and freedoms of students and Portuguese society during the Estado Novo period.

As a lawyer, José Carlos Vasconcelos dedicated himself to defending political prisoners, journalists, and intellectuals, facing what he described as the most "ridiculous" trials conducted by PIDE, the political police of the Salazarist regime.

After the April 25th, 1974 coup, José Carlos Vasconcelos continued his career in journalism, founding the weekly "Jornal" and "Jornal de Letras, Artes e Ideias", thus contributing to the strengthening of freedom of expression in Portugal in the post-revolutionary period.