José Hermano Saraiva

José Hermano Saraiva ( born October 3, 1919 in Leiria, † July 20, 2012 in Setúbal) was a Portuguese historian, lawyer, politician and diplomat. He became known in Portugal especially with television programs about the history of the country.

Life

Saraiva was born in 1919 in Leiria, the son of history professor José Saraiva ( 1881-1946 ) and as a younger brother of the future Professor of Literary History and activists of the Communist Party of Portugal, António José Saraiva ( 1917-1993 ). He completed a law degree ( degree in 1941 ) and a study of the philosophy of history ( completion 1942) at the University of Lisbon. He then worked as a lawyer and taught in secondary schools and universities, so at the Instituto Superior de Ciências e Política Sociais Ultra Marina Faculdade de Letras and the University of Lisbon.

From 1968 to 1970 he was Minister of Education in the government of Marcelo Caetanos, the Estado Novo regime, and was in the function with the student unrest ( crise académica ) especially at the University of Coimbra in 1969 faced. He was Ambassador of Portugal in Brazil until the Carnation Revolution in 1974, after he held no official position more in 1972. He was now known to television programs about the history of Portugal.

Reception

On the one hand, he developed significant works on the history of Portugal, including his six-volume standard work História de Portugal ( Publicações Alfa, Lisbon 1981). On the other hand, his works were not always without controversy among historians about in relation to the established dictatorship of Salazar, who had served in various positions Saraiva.

Especially with his TV shows and his precise, this vivid way of teaching history, Saraiva has become a well known personality in Portugal. In 2007, organized by the public service broadcaster RTP ​​choice of "the greatest Portuguese of all time" (Os Grandes Portugueses ), he finished 26th place.