O Ilustrado

O Ilustrado (1933–1934) was a fortnightly illustrated magazine in Portuguese, published in Lourenço Marques by the company behind the newspaper Notícias, aimed primarily at the European and Portuguese-descendant communities in Mozambique. It benefited from contributions from journalists at Notícias, as well as staff and writers based in the country, and contributors in the capital. It stood out for its focus on photojournalism, keeping pace with the latest international trends in news magazines. The images took on a new prominence, capturing the moment and telling stories accompanied by brief textual notes. These photo reports use a new language to reveal various dimensions of Mozambican, metropolitan and global realities and news, in which the recent creation of the Estado Novo, the continuing impact of the Great Depression, and the anxieties created by Nazism and the imminence of a new world war stand out. At the same time, they also offer delightful glimpses of modernity through cinema and its stars, fashion, or sport. 

O Ilustrado aimed to be a comprehensive, light read for leisure hours, “featuring critical articles, international columns, short stories that are easy and pleasant to read, striking an emotional or humorous chord, poetry, women’s topics, sports, cinema, the arts, literature and science, curious reports, society news, etc. (…) Children will not be forgotten, both in terms of entertainment and from an educational and instructive point of view.” (S. C., 1933). It would fulfil its intentions whilst continuing to engage the colonial reader.

In fact, although it claimed to be apolitical, it was far from neutral, and was undoubtedly shaped by the concerns of its director, Alexandre Sobral de Campos (Margão, 1888–1962), a lawyer, journalist and writer of Portuguese descent from Goa. This intellectual had made a name for himself in Lisbon through his involvement in the anarcho-syndicalist movement and the founding of the Portuguese People’s University. In Lourenço Marques, he became involved in the League for the Defence and Promotion of the Colony of Mozambique, established in 1930 following the Colonial Act, which was in conflict with the metropolitan authorities over the rights of the colonies’ ‘natives’, but also caused concern amongst black and ‘mixed-race’ Mozambican intellectuals regarding the concept of ‘natives’ (Zamparoni, 2012, pp. 284–5). Sobral de Campos’s origins may also explain his initial interest, soon abandoned, in the «União Indiana de Lourenço Marques» association, which maintained clear links with the Indian National Congress.

Examples of the magazine’s key concerns include its humorous take on the constitutional referendum, its socially conscious reporting, its ongoing condemnation of Nazism (as opposed to fascism), its focus on the movements of political deportees, its editorials on pressing current affairs, and its coverage of Mozambican colonisation—which oscillated between praise for the modernising transformation and condemnation of the obstacles it faced. O Ilustrado was no less marked by the racialisation inherent in colonial society, with a notable absence from its pages of the ‘native’ Black and mixed-race intellectuals mentioned above. Among the groups it features, it highlights ‘indigenous’ people in the photographic section «Página Indígena». The distinctly colonial perspective of this page nonetheless reveals an interest in showcasing aspects of the culture and realities of African populations, which contrast with the images of the daily life of the white population that dominate the magazine. The photographs ultimately reveal individuals or groups who move us through the shared gaze they return to the camera. Occasionally, they capture them in action, offering glimpses of the relationships they forge with colonising modernity, and bringing people and their stories into sharp focus.

In an increasingly hostile political climate, O Ilustrado eventually shifted its focus towards literature, placing greater emphasis on features, poetry and short stories. As for the short stories, whilst most are set in the city, some recount tales of settlers, legends or African characters, and feature a form of Portuguese influenced by local languages; in some instances, they even include passages in those languages. 

Xavier Valente, who was also a reporter for Notícias, introduces us to other members of the newspaper’s staff who contributed to the magazine: the young reporter Willy Waddington, and above all, Fernando Baldaque and the photojournalist Arnaldo Silva, who stood out for their regular appearances in the pages of O Ilustrado (Valente, 1933). It is also here that Valente bears witness to Sobral de Campos’s struggles to keep the magazine going. 

Exactly one year after its launch, with the publication of issue 24, the editorial team of Notícias cites financial unsustainability as the reason for its closure, outlining the difficulties encountered in maintaining the desired graphic quality, ensuring a diverse range of contributions and, above all, securing a readership and advertisers capable of sustaining the project.

Sobral de Campos eventually became the magazine’s chief editor, contributing columns of an increasingly literary nature. In addition to Notícias, he was involved in other periodicals also featured on this website, such as Emancipador and Itinerário. Among the most frequent contributors, in addition to the aforementioned Valente, Baldaque and Silva, particular mention should be made of Margarida Guerreiro, who during those years also contributed to the Lisbon-based magazine Eva, Ruy Sant’Elmo, whom we shall encounter again in O Académico de Goa; António de Sousa Neves, a journalist and sportsman who played a key role in the founding of «Rádio Clube de Moçambique» and in Norton de Matos’s campaign; as well as the cartoonist Santana and the illustrator Vilela, about whom we have been unable to find any information.

Like Notícias, the magazine was owned by «Empresa Tipográfica» and had its headquarters in Praça 7 de março, in Lourenço Marques (now Maputo).

The collection can be accessed via Hemeroteca Digital the Lisbon City Council’s Digital Newspaper Archive, which has contributed the cover of issue no. 1 to this website.

Form and presentation: Sandra Ataíde Lobo, with the collaboration of Miriam de Sousa.

Translation from Portuguese: Loraine Alberto

Bibliography:

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Campos, Sobral de, “2 palavras no lugar da crónica da quinzena” O Ilustrado, nº 1, maio 1933.

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O Ilustrado, 1933-1934.

Oliveira, Luís Pedroso de Lima Cabral de, A consagração dos naturais: direito(s) e elites naturais católicas em Goa (1780-1880). Tese de Doutoramento. Lisboa: FD/UNL, 2015.  http://hdl.handle.net/10362/16336 

Pimenta, Fernando Tavares, “A imprensa colonial e a oposição ao Estado Novo de Salazar em Moçambique. O caso do jornal Notícias, de Lourenço Marques (Maputo), 1926-1974” In Arlete Assumpção Monteiro, Yvone Dias Avelino e Edgar Gomes (org.), Tecituras das Cidades. História, Memória e Imprensa. Emanuscrito, 2022, 32 p. https://run.unl.pt/bitstream/10362/149046/1/Miolo_Imprensa_FINAL.pdf

S. C. [Sobral de Campos], “2 palavras no lugar da crónica da quinzena” O Ilustrado, n. 1, 1 de abril de 1933

Serra, Pedro Miguel Coelho,    António Fernandes Roquete (1906-1995): Um "ídolo" do desporto nas polícias políticas do Estado Novo. Tese de Doutoramento. Lisboa: NOVA-FCSH, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10362/60394 

Valente, Xavier, “Lições de coisas: Como eu vejo o "Noticias" por dentro” O Ilustrado, n. 19, 15 de janeiro de 1934.

Zamparoni, Vladimir, De escravo a cozinheiro: colonialismo e racismo em Moçambique. 2ª ed. Salvador: EDUFBa: 2012