The Municipality of Lousã will promote on Saturday a tribute to four Lousã residents who participated in the Sailors' Revolt, 90 years ago. This initiative, organized by the Memory and Tribute Commission in partnership with the municipality and the Trevim cooperative, includes a conference at 3:00 PM at the Comendador Montenegro Municipal Library, conducted by historian João Esteves, on memory, resistance and repression.
The Sailors' Revolt took place in the early morning of September 8, 1936, at the mouth of the Tagus, in Lisbon, involving the crews of the warships Dão, Afonso de Albuquerque and Bartolomeu Dias. The insurrection, organized by the Revolutionary Naval Organization linked to the PCP (Portuguese Communist Party), was an action against Salazar's dictatorship that ultimately failed and resulted in strong repression.
Among the four commemorated is Ismael Fernandes, from Penela, who was one of the 12 killed in the revolt. Hermínio Martins served almost 15 years at the Tarrafal Concentration Camp, in Cape Verde. Adelino Mendes went into exile in Havana, Cuba, where he was honored by Fidel Castro in 1979 for his contribution to the Cuban Revolution. Jorge Antunes dos Santos later worked in charcoal production in the Serra da Lousã and eventually went into exile in France.
The commemorations begin at 10:30 AM with a reception at the Town Hall, followed by a visit to the former places of residence or work of those honored, where evocative panels were placed 20 years ago. The presence of relatives of the former sailors, currently based in different parts of the country, is expected.
