Throughout the last half term of the 2024/2025 school year, the ‘Mário Soares: 100 years’ exhibition was travelling to dozens of schools from the north to the south of the country, in an initiative coordinated by the Mário Soares and Maria Barroso Foundation, in conjunction with the School Libraries Network (RBE), as part of the celebrations for the centenary of Mário Soares' birth.

The exhibition, dedicated to the life and work of Mário Soares, has been enthusiastically received by the educational communities and has enabled hundreds of students to learn about the civic, political and international career of one of the main figures in the history of Portuguese democracy.

Organised into five regional tours (Norte Interior, Norte Litoral, Centro-Oeste, Lisboa and Alentejo-Algarve), the exhibition has been shown in more than 30 educational establishments, including schools in the municipalities of Bragança, Vinhais, Alijó, Viana do Castelo, Barcelos, Gondomar, Alcobaça, Cantanhede, Oliveira de Azeméis, Cascais, Amadora, Vila Franca de Xira, Montemor-o-Novo, Elvas, Alter do Chão, Gavião and many others.

Each tour was planned with the support of the RBE and the school libraries, allowing the exhibition to travel between the different establishments on a weekly or fortnightly basis. Most of the schools organised guided tours, debates, educational sessions and interdisciplinary activities, deepening their knowledge of Mário Soares' role in the fight against dictatorship, in the April Revolution, in building democracy and in Portugal's European integration.

The interest shown has already led to the exhibition's calendar being extended to the next school year (2025/2026), with dozens of new schools signed up for the various tours.

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Mário Soares: 100 years’ exhibition tours schools across the country

The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, posthumously decorated Maria de Jesus Barroso with the Grand Cross of the Order of Public Instruction in recognition of her unique role in education, culture and citizenship.

The award took place at a ceremony on 2 May at Colégio Moderno, an institution that Maria Barroso directed since the 1960s.

The initiative took place as part of the celebrations for the centenary of Maria Barroso's birth, which began on 2 May and will continue for a year.

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Maria Barroso honoured with the Order of Public Instruction

On 27 and 28 May 2025, the first international meeting of the FREI project - From Resistance to European Integration - took place in Vienna, an initiative funded by the European Union's CERV - Citizenship, Equality, Rights and Values programme.

This European project brings together partners from Austria, Portugal, Italy, Greece and Romania, with the aim of promoting debate on the historical transitions to democracy and the construction of a European citizenship based on human rights.

Over the course of two days, the meeting included speeches by experts, representatives of civil society and a visit to historical sites in Vienna.

The speech by the Mário Soares and Maria Barroso Foundation, entitled ‘Unarchiving Democracy: Youth, Post-Colonial Memory and the Portuguese Democratic Path’, highlighted Portugal's democratic journey from the Carnation Revolution to European integration, as well as the contemporary challenges posed to the exercise of citizenship and the inclusion of new generations, particularly young people with post-colonial origins.

The Foundation's presence in Vienna was represented by a delegation of six people, made up of students, researchers, archive professionals and association leaders, underlining the institution's commitment to a participatory, critical and inclusive approach to memory and democracy.

The FREI project runs until March 2027, culminating in a final conference at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, where the results of the activities carried out and proposals for strengthening democratic citizenship in contemporary Europe will be presented.

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Foundation takes part in the kick-off of the European FREI project

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Concert in honour of Maria Barroso on the day of her centenary

The Mário Soares and Maria Barroso Foundation is looking to hire an Archivist to join its team in Lisbon.

Applications must be sent by 28 February 2025, by email to <a href="mailto:geral@fmsoaresbarroso.pt">geral@fmsoaresbarroso.pt</a>, with the subject line ‘FMSMB competition - Archivist’, attaching a curriculum vitae, certificate of qualifications and letter of motivation.<br>

For more information, see the recruitment <a href="https://fmsoaresbarroso.pt/uploads/FMSMB_Recrutamento_Arquivista_2025_02_20_c4feee8605.pdf">notice</a>.

Job position at the Mário Soares and Maria Barroso Foundation - archivist

The award ceremony for the Mário Soares-Fundação EDP 2024 Award took place on 30 January at 6pm in the Foundation's auditorium.

Isabel Soares, President of the Mário Soares and Maria Barroso Foundation, opened the session by highlighting the historical importance of the Award and emphasising its impact on academia. Over the 26 editions that have been held, 29 Prizes and 42 Honourable Mentions have been awarded.

José Manuel dos Santos, Director and Cultural Director of the EDP Foundation, patron of the Award, emphasised the central importance of history in Mário Soares' thinking and actions, along with politics, literature and the arts, which were fundamental pillars of his life.

The first prize was awarded to the doctoral thesis ‘Escaping the War and the Holocaust through Portugal: refugees in the “fixed residence” areas of the Centre region (1940-1946)’, by Carolina Pereira Henriques. Carolina Henriques Pereira's thesis, developed at the Faculty of Letters of the University of Coimbra, makes an important contribution to understanding the presence of refugees in Portugal during the Second World War, highlighting their concentration, by decision of the regime, in thermal and bathing resorts in the Centre region of the country.

An honourable mention was also awarded to the work ‘História da UNITA: da Fundação ao Acordo de Alvor (1966-1975)’, by João Fusco Ribeiro, the result of his doctoral thesis in Contemporary History at the University of Évora. 

The ceremony also included a debate with former winners of the Award, such as political scientist Marina Costa Lobo and historian Pedro Aires Oliveira, as well as this year's winner, Carolina Pereira Henriques. The moderator was journalist Pedro Jorge Castro.

You can watch the recording of the session in the video below.

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Mário Soares-EDP Foundation 2024 Award Ceremony

The Assembly of the Republic has established the Mário Soares Award for Freedom and Democracy (Resolution no. 5/2025 of 14 January).

Approved unanimously, the Award aims to recognise informative, educational or pedagogical works centred on the values defended and practised by Mário Soares, which promote the formation of public opinion on the importance of free and independent thought and which contribute to a fairer, more democratic and pluralistic society.

Aimed at national or foreign citizens and NGOs, the award is worth €25,000. It will be granted annually on 7 December, the day of Mário Soares' birth.

The Jury will work with the Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms and Guarantees Committee and will be made up of one MP from each Parliamentary Group, representatives of the Academy, the Mário Soares and Maria Barroso Foundation or other organisations.

Establishment of the Mário Soares Freedom and Democracy Prize

Please be advised that the <a href="http://casacomum.org/cc/arquivos">Casa Comum</a> digital platform will be subject to a scheduled interruption for maintenance during the following period: 16th January (23:00) to 17th January (09:00). During this time, the service will be unavailable.

If you have any questions, please contact us at <a href="mailto:geral@fmsoaresbarroso.pt">geral@fmsoaresbarroso.pt</a>.

Scheduled interruption in the Casa Comum

The Foundation has opened a call for applications for 1 Research Grant for a Graduate, within the scope of the project ‘Ordinary Voices: organisation and study of the correspondence between citizens and Mário Soares during the transition to Portuguese democracy (1974-1978)’, funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology.

<b>Activities to be carried out by the scholarship holder:</b><br>

Applications should be sent to <a href="mailto:geral@fmsoaresbarroso.pt">geral@fmsoaresbarroso.pt</a> by 24 January.

For more information, see the competition notice available in <a href="https://fmsoaresbarroso.pt/uploads/FMSMB_Edital_BI_pt_2005b91b5c.pdf">Portuguese</a> and <a href="https://fmsoaresbarroso.pt/uploads/FMSMB_Edital_BI_en_76228433e2.pdf">English</a>.

Open call for a research fellow for the ‘Ordinary Voices’ project

The Mário Soares and Maria Barroso Foundation has seen the FREI (From Resistance to European Integration) project funded by the European Commission under the CERV (Citizenship, Equality, Rights and Values) programme, in the European Memory strand.

With a duration of 24 months and scheduled to start in the first half of 2025, the project brings together partners from five countries (Italy, Austria, Greece, Portugal and Romania) and aims to explore the historical transitions from totalitarianism to democracy, highlighting human rights and European integration.  

The project will involve young people between the ages of 18 and 29, who, with the support of experts, protagonists and witnesses and representatives of vulnerable groups, will debate and analyse national paths to democracy, based on the following themes:

Transnational meetings will be organised to explore the complexity and heterogeneity of European history, highlighting the common struggle for democracy and human rights. The Foundation will lead the activities in Portugal, organising two events, in Lisbon and Leiria, in 2025 and 2026.

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