Batalha, Francisco Pereira, 1867-1939

Lisbon, 17 November 1867- Lisbon, 30 November 1939. Francisco Pereira Batalha had a career as a public servant at the Post and Telegraphs, first in Lisbon and thereafter in Luanda and in Goa, and was also a provisionary lawyer qualified in Luanda. He was a  journalist since the 1880s, having published the Boletim Colonial (Lisbon) and A Província (Luanda, Panaji), and contributed to other newspapers such as the Correio da Noite (Lisbon) and the O Século (Lisbon). He was one of the contributors of the important publication A voz de Angola clamando no deserto (1901). Was a republican since his youth and a free-mason since 1891. During the First Republic was a political leader in Angola to the Partido Republicano Evolucionista and afterwards, while in Goa, to the Partido Republicano Português (Democrático). He was consistently a defender of a model of autonomy to the government of the colonies. At the begining of Estado Novo, he was arrested several times between 1931 and 1933 for revolutionary conspiracy, being lately deported to Angra do Heroísmo (Azores) from where he returned to Lisbon in 1934. Was married on 28 May 1887 to Maria Avelina Henriques, born in Ilha do Fogo (Cape Verde). Was a member of the Sociedade de Geografia de Lisboa (Lisbon Geographic Society).

We thank Dr. João Esteves for sharing documents regarding his arrest and Dr. Luís Sá (BNP) for sharing the precise dates of his birth and death, present at the BNP database.

Bibliographic references: Boletim Colonial (1888-1894) and A Província (Luanda and Panaji, 1914-1926); Esteves, João, "Francisco Pereira Batalha," blog Silêncios e Memórias - https://silenciosememorias.blogspot.com/2023/04/3251-presos-por-motivos-politicos-da.html; Dias, João José, "La presencia de Espanã en la mesonería Portuguesa: los nomres simbólicos (1892)," in La masonería española entre Europa y América : VI Symposium Internacional de Historia de la Masonería Española, coord. por José Antonio Ferrer Benimeli, Vol. 1, 1995, pp. 319-322. https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=962754; Lopo, Rui Castro, Jornalismo em Angola: subsídios para a sua história. Luanda: Centro de Informação e Turismo de Angola, 1964, p. 96-97; National Library of Portugal - database (information on his birth and death provided by Dr. Maria Helena Dias to the BNP); ANTT, Processo de divórcio - PT/TT/JUD/TCLSB02/A/695/01711; AHU, Consulta sobre reclamação de advogados de Luanda...PT/AHU/SEMU/JCU/001/001048 (digital access- https://digitarq.arquivos.pt/documentDetails/7cf984bc238c4941937801a2a96b9650); Museu da Presidência da Republica, Arquivo de António José de Almeida, Letters sent  by Francisco Pereira Batalha in Angola and in Goa, 1910-1922 (accessible in digital format) - Search results - Museu da Presidência da República - Archeevo.

Form and presentation: Sandra Ataíde Lobo