Historian Fernando Pessanha already has a doctorate from the University of Huelva with maximum classification

The Algarve historian Fernando Pessanha obtained his doctorate from the University of Huelva, achieving the highest classification.

With the title “Nuno Fernandes de Ataíde, the “never this quedo” – The action of the captain of Safim at the height of the Portuguese military presence in Morocco”, this thesis, supervised by Antonio Sánchez González, from the University of Huelva, and Vítor Gaspar Rodriguez , from the University of Lisbon, addresses the military action of this mayor of Alvor and captain of Safim.

Known, at the time, as the “never quiet”, Nuno Fernandes was one of the captains of Portuguese expansion in North Africa. Through military action, this commander led a series of victorious campaigns that reached the gates of Marrakesh.

It was the precursor of the first European protectorate in Morocco, 400 years before the establishment of contemporary Spanish and French protectorates.

According to Fernando Pessanha, despite the historical weight of Nuno Fernandes de Ataíde, there was no academic thesis dedicated to his strategic and military action. Nuno Fernandes de Ataíde was the great champion of the imperial project of King D. Manuel of Portugal in North Africa (with a military operation that can only be compared with the actions of Afonso de Albuquerque in the East).

The jury, made up of David González Cruz, professor of Modern History at the University of Huelva, María Augusta Lima Cruz, professor at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa and the University of Minho, and Manuel Fernández Chaves, professor at the University of Sevilla, decided to award maximum marks to this thesis.