Maria de Lourdes Faria Câmara was born on February 21, 1947 in the small town of Capelas on the island of São Miguel. Displaying a musical talent from a young age, Maria began singing Fado at 14. She arrived in Canada in June of 1970, to live with her friend, António, whom she knew from a […]
The Portuguese Canadian Walk of Fame is a community organization whose mission is to honour Portuguese-Canadian individuals who have made an impact within both the Portuguese community and Canadian society as a whole, and who have also contributed to the advancement of Portuguese culture in Canada. It is located at Camões Square, at the corner of College St. and […]
Did you know that the Lisbon landmark Torre de Belém, is classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site? This site was given its name to honour the significant role it played in the Portuguese maritime discoveries during the Age of Discoveries (2). It is one of the most visited landmarks in Portugal to this day (1). The Torre […]
In 1940 during WWII, Aristides de Sousa Mendes was serving as the Portuguese Consul General just outside of Bordeaux, France (1). At the time, Portugal was under the dictatorial rule of Antonio Salazar, and even though it was declared as officially neutral in the war, Salazar issued a directive called “Circular 14” to all of Portugal’s diplomats, instructing them to […]
Nestas ultimas semanas temos falado de diversas figuras do movimento futurista português. Apresentamos a revista Orpheu, que embandeirava este conceito modernista e que era participado de figuras que contribuíram para o vasto património nacional de artes e literatura. Depois embarcamos na vida de Almada Negreiros, passando brevemente pela vida de Mário de Sá Carneiro, chegando […]
Given that the majority of Portuguese people are Catholic, Easter is considered one of the most celebrated and important holidays in Portugal. This piece will highlight and explain some of the most common Easter traditions in Portugal. Major Portuguese Easter traditions usually kick off during Holy Week (starting a week prior to Easter Sunday, on […]
Após ter falado de Almada Negreiros e da sua relevância não só no contexto da Orpheu mas também para o público português é importante olhar para outra pessoa de igual relevância: Mário de Sá Carneiro. Na minha humilde opinião é imperativo falar de Sá Carneiro para podermos perceber um pouco mais até de Fernando Pessoa. […]
In light of today being St. Patrick’s Day, we thought it would be interesting to share some facts we learned about the ties between the Portuguese and the Irish. To begin, we will travel back to The Bronze Age (1200 BC) where Celtic tribes began migrating across Europe, forming the first nations of many European countries […]
While visiting the beautiful city of Nazaré one summer, I came across this beautiful scenic cliff, which a legendary story behind it. Locals often retell the story to visitors, and luckily, I was one of them. The legend begins with a man who was out hunting with a few companions on a very foggy morning. […]
Elvino Silveira Medina de Sousa was born in Graciosa Island in the Azores archipelago, on Decemeber 28, 1956. He immigrated to Canada with his parents in 1970 at 13 years old. An honour student since the beginning, Elvino completed a Bachelor and a Masters Degree at the University of Toronto, and obtained his Ph.D. from […]