«This will certainly not be Professor António Covas' last lesson, we will have the opportunity to invite him many times in the future», guaranteed Efigénio Rebelo, director of the Faculty of Economics of the University of Algarve, on Wednesday at the end of the afternoon, when the your colleague delivered the last lesson.
«European politics for the next decade – A brief history of the future» was the theme chosen by António Covas, for his last lesson, which took place in the Auditorium of the Faculty of Economics, on the Gambelas Campus, in Faro.
In attendance were colleagues from the Faculty and University, former students, other students, people who over the years worked with the full professor in different areas, as well as family members.
Saúl Neves de Jesus, vice-rector, expressed his desire to continue to count on the contribution of the professor who retired, "although in different ways", while João Albino da Silva, president of the Scientific Council of the FE, insisted on underlining the "enormous talent and infinite competence» by António Covas.
«Our Faculty of Economics is better today than it was 20 years ago and Professor Covas also contributed a lot to that», stressed João Albino Silva.
But it would be João Guerreiro, former dean of UAlg and a contemporary of the honoree in Évora, who pointed out that this was the «last official lesson» of a «root economist, who has guided his creative line of thought in areas that are not limited to most fashionable theories».
Covas, he stressed, has focused his reflection activity “on building bridges with other social sciences”, namely sociology and anthropology. “All the production he makes is very rich in reflection on our society”.
According to João Guerreiro, there are “two central ideas in his work: the territory and Europe”. In rural areas, he stressed, António Covas is “a heavyweight”.
Before starting his last lesson, which lasted a little more than an hour and a half and which, in the end, raised several questions of assistance, the full professor recalled having worked for 19 years at the University of Algarve, after having been 24 years at the of Évora. «But here I found tranquility» to reflect and investigate.
Even before that, António Covas received his PhD in European Affairs from the Free University of Brussels, and then did his doctoral internship at the then CEE (European Economic Community), at DG6, where he followed «the negotiations for the accession of Portugal, in 1983 to 1986'. These were times that, he added, cemented his “great interest in European issues”.
Photos: Elisabete Rodrigues | Sul Informação
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