The late Algarve historian and university professor António Rosa Mendes inspired the literary competition launched this week by the municipality of Vila Real de Santo António (VRSA), the municipality where he was born. The «National Prize for Historical Essay António Rosa Mendes», worth ten thousand euros, will be held every two years and aims to promote «research and literature on history in our country».
History was António Rosa Mendes' main passion, but his professional and personal path went far beyond this discipline. In addition to his career as a teacher at the University of Algarve (UAlg), he was the president of the Mission structure of «Faro-National Capital of Culture 2005», co-founded a book publisher, launched several works and directed the UAlg Central Library, in Gambelas, among others.
«This competition, launched as part of a tribute by the municipality of VRSA and the Algarve academy to the illustrious Vila-Realense, who has recently disappeared, is intended to reward the best unpublished work in the modality of historical essay, with a free but limited theme to the period of the Modern Age”, announced the VRSA chamber.
For the Mayor of VRSA Luís Gomes, «this competition, whose prize of expressive value makes it one of the biggest nationally, honors the name and work of Rosa Mendes and makes the municipality a reference in terms of culture, research history and the promotion of heritage'. In addition to winning the monetary prize, there is the possibility that the winning work will be published by a commercial publisher.
All national or foreign citizens will be admitted to the competition, as long as they present the work in Portuguese, and the works submitted must be original, unpublished and not previously awarded. The deadline for receiving the competing works ends on December 31, 2014, and the jury must make a decision by May 15, 2015.
The panel of judges will consist of: Prof. Doctor Joaquim Romero de Magalhães (University of Coimbra); Prof. Doctor Esteves Pereira (New University of Lisbon); Prof. Doctor José Eduardo Horta Correia (University of Algarve); Prof. Doctor Luís Filipe Oliveira (University of Algarve); and Arch. José Carlos Barros (Municipal Assembly of Vila Real de Santo António).
The prize will later be awarded to the author of the winning work, at the Town Hall of Vila Real de Santo António, on May 21, 2015, that is, within a year.
Born in VRSA, António Rosa Mendes was an emeritus professor, respected and admired by students and colleagues and by the entire community of his relations, having contributed to boost scientific research on the History of the Algarve.
During his life, he was publicly recognized as a man of integrity, cultured, humanist, detached, humble, with character, principles and civic courage, having his roots in the Algarve marked all his academic, civic, social and political intervention.
To honor this eminent figure of the Algarve's culture, the VRSA municipality will also publish two literary works on the life and work of António Rosa Mendes: the first entitled «Subsidies for the Monograph of António Rosa Mendes» and a second entitled «Biography of António Rosa Mendes Rosa Mendes».
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