D.Duarte Pio João Miguel Gabriel Rafael de Bragança was born on the 15th of May 1945 in Bern, to TRH Sr. D. Duarte Nuno de Bragança and SrªD. Maria Francisca de Bragança, and is Godson of His Holiness Pope Pious XII, Queen D.Amélia and Princess Aldegundes of Lichtenstein.
D. Duarte is head of the House of Bragança, Duke of Bragança, Guimarães and Barcelos, Marquis of Vila Viçosa, Count of Arraiolos, Ourém, Barcelos, Faria, Neiva and Guimarães
As Heir of the Kings of Portugal he was Prince of Beira until the death of his Father. He is Grand Master of the Order of Our Lady of the Conception of Vila Viçosa. He is member of and has received inumerous honours and merits from a great number of national and foreign orders and associations.
He is honorary president of the Historical Society for the Independence of Portugal, the Portuguese Historical Nobility Association amongst others.
He first visited Portugal in 1951, before the exile laws, that forbade any descendants of D.Miguel from entering Portugal, were revoked, accompanied by his aunt, Princess D.Filipa for a short visit. Returning for good in 1953 with his family.
He concluded his primary studies in Oporto, and continued his secondary schooling first in the Nuno Álvares Pereira in Santo Tirso and later in the Military School. Later he studied Agronomy in University, interrupting his studies to serve the country in the Armed Forces in 1967. He completed his academic education with a degree from the Geneva University’s institute for Development, and later with a Course as Auditor of National Defence.
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He completed his Military Service between 1967 and 1971 in Angola as an Officer Helicopter Pilot, where he searched for and maintained many contacts with the local populations learning many local dialects. He was expelled from Angola in 1973, under escort of the political police, for having challenged the dictatorial regime by helping to organise an opposition for the next elections.
D.Duarte remembers his military service as one of the richest of his life, specially because of the contacts he established and maintained through the years with the local populations, which always received him warmly and treated him very well. Many of them still remembered the visit of D.Luís Filipe to their land. The strong fraternal feeling that D.Duarte cherishes for our African Brothers comes from this period.
But his love for the people of our former colonies is not only aimed at Africa, D.Duarte has always had a keen interest in East Timor, since its illegal annexation by Indonesia, and has been a tireless fighter for the freedom of this martyred people. Even before our government took up a strong pro-Timor stand, D.Duarte was already active and leading campaigns such as “Timor 87” with the aim of informing people of the plight of the Timorese people.
One of D.Duarte’s more passionate struggles is the apparently lost fight for the preservation and development of the Portuguese agriculture. Concerning this cause he once said: “Agriculture continues to play a fundamental part in the lives of the nations. Apart from the production of essential food products it is also the only activity truly responsible for the humanisation and permanent occupation of the rural areas”
Amongst the many organisations D.Duarte is involved in, a special mention must be made to the D.Manuel II Foundation, formed in 1966 and that aids many Portuguese emigrants, through such actions as housing, integration, teaching etc. The Portuguese Heritage Foundation, based in North America, has the aim of preserving and spreading Portuguese history and cultural heritage through the world.
To end this short biography we thought it would be fitting to include the following quote by Journalist Luís Delgado in the “Diário de Noticias” 1994.
“Between Fiction and Reality”
There is an abysmal difference between the image we have of public figures whom we do not know and what they are in reality. In an excellent documentary about Hitler and Stalin transmitted by SIC (a private Portuguese television station) the ex- official translator of the Soviet dictator illustrated these differences perfectly. He thought that Stalin was a tall well built man, who shone with power and charisma. When he saw him he didn’t recognise him. He was short, thin, had one arm longer than the other a grey face and the only thing that he transmitted was fear. All this to say that the image I had of the Duke of Bragança was unfavourable, based on what is said about him, and what he has said about trivial matters. I was positively impressed.
D.Duarte knows what he wants for the country, he is politically and intellectually coherent, firm in his ideas and more importantly, transmits the indispensable serenity of Head of a Royal House.”
Sources:
Duarte e Isabel Duques de Bragança - Biografia autorizada
Nuno Canas Mendes
Diário de Notícias, 1 de Dezembro de 1994
Reis Sem Reino
Gerard Rancinan
President of the Portuguese Republic, Dr. Jorge Sampaio.
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Please vist this Offical Page On the Portuguese Republic to learn more about Portugal
The Portuguese Language
.Portuguese is a latin language which is evident from the written word but when spoken is entirely different from other western European languages. Surprisingly the Rumanians and the Portuguese can understand each other.
A surprise to many, is that Portuguese is the fifth most commonly spoken language in the world. This is mainly due to the large Portuguese speaking population of Brazil, with the addition of Angola and Mozambique in Africa and East Timor in the Far East.
The language, or a variation of it, is Galego which is the traditional language of Galicia in Northern Spain. Unfortunately this language was suppressed in the past but is now making a come back with television stations etc.
The trading with Japan, and also the founding of Osaka by Portuguese Jesuit priests have resulted in many Portuguese words in the Japanese language. The most notable is 'arigato' the Japanese word for 'thank you' which comes from the Portuguese 'obrigado' (or obrigada if spoken by a woman).
English and German are commonly understood in the tourist areas of the Algarve but in the north French is the second language. This is because approximately 50% of the working population in the North of Portugal is working overseas with Paris being the second largest Portuguese city as measured by the number of Portuguese residents.
