Fernando Pessanha appointed corresponding member of the Navy Academy

Fernando Pessanha, an Algarve historian and senior culture technician at the Vila Real de Santo António City Council, was recently appointed, upon proposal and election of the emeritus/effective academics of the Academia de Marinha, a corresponding member of that cultural body of the Portuguese Navy.

The Academia da Marinha has scientific autonomy, with the mission of promoting and developing studies on Naval History and maritime activities, an area in which Fernando Pessanha has produced a vast amount of work.

In statements to the Sul Informação, Fernando Pessanha said that “it gives me great joy to see that the research projects I have been developing in the exercise of my duties as a senior technician at the Vila Real de Santo António City Council have been recognized by the Portuguese Navy’s cultural body exempt from and endowed with scientific autonomy”.

“In this sense, I must sincerely thank you for the assent and trust that the Culture Division of the Municipality of Vila Real de Santo António has placed in the research projects that I have developed over the last 10 years, namely, the investigations subordinated to the History of the Expansion and Discoveries, the activity of privateering and piracy at the mouth of the Guadiana and in the Portuguese-Hispanic-Moroccan gulf, as well as studies dedicated to the defense of the coast in the extreme southeast of the Algarve. This recognition is only possible thanks to the interest and support given to me over the years by the Vila Real de Santo António City Council. My gratitude to all of you”, concluded the Algarve historian.

According to information provided by the official website of the Academia de Marinha, this cultural body of the Portuguese Navy, awarded as an Honorary Member of the Military Order of Sant'Iago da Espada by the President of the Republic, “admits as members personalities of intellectual, scientific or culture of higher level, whose activity, professional or otherwise, is directly or indirectly related to the sea or maritime activities”.