The Mayor, Pedro Nascimento Cabral, highlighted the importance of the Intellectual Mission’s visit to the Azores in 1924 in the region’s journey towards political and administrative autonomy, which the April 25 Revolution would later bring about.
“By bringing to collective memory the protagonists, the facts and the results of the “Visit of Intellectuals to the Azores in 1924”, we remember the second autonomist movement, we pay homage to one of its great driving forces and defenders, José Bruno Tavares Carreiro, and we recognize how this movement also contributed to what was, in fact, already a democratic Portugal, and with the irreplaceable impetus of João Bosco Mota Amaral, the longed-for Political and Administrative Autonomy of the Azores was enshrined in our Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, with self-government bodies, namely the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores and the Regional Government of the Azores, and also under the determined leadership of Dr. Mota Amaral, an important set of initiatives was initiated. Mota Amaral, an important set of actions were initiated that are essential for improving the living conditions of the Azoreans and, thus, for the economic, social and cultural progress of our islands,” said the mayor.
Pedro Nascimento Cabral was speaking this Monday at the opening session of the Colloquium on the Centenary of the Visit of Intellectuals to the Azores, which took place on the Ponta Delgada campus.
The mayor, therefore, stressed that the event highlights the figure of the journalist and founder of the Correio dos Açores newspaper, José Bruno Tavares Carreiro while highlighting the group of distinguished personalities from Portuguese cultural and academic life who, between May 27 and June 22, 1924, visited all the islands of the Azorean archipelago.
“José Bruno Tavares Carreiro, as a figure in the second autonomist movement, thus projected the Azores, not only through the visit of intellectuals and other prominent writers and scientists, but also as a great promoter of the free debate of ideas, which served to reinvigorate the autonomous ambition of various personalities, by bringing to light the problems faced by the people of our islands, in a country that was frankly distant, in which the strongly centralist Terreiro do Paço did not hesitate to relegate our islands to the confines of oblivion, assuming a profound contempt for the development challenges that this archipelago, then known as the ‘adjacent islands’, was facing,” he said.
Therefore, he praised José Bruno Tavares Carreiro’s “spirit of courage” in defending the ideals of autonomy, with the model of autonomy developed that is based on “the identity of the People of the Azores.” He maintained that it must continue to be deepened and inspire the public authorities to guarantee the happiness of their populations.
“We are always working towards a new ambition for our islands, one that serves our interests and allows us, through our management, based on knowledge of our land and our people, to implement a development model that is, above all, effective and brings happiness to our fellow citizens. On the day of the start of this important colloquium, which celebrates the centenary of the “Visit of Intellectuals to the Azores – 1924/2024”, here is the record of an objective. And our word,” he said.
The Colloquium on the Centenary of the Visit of Intellectuals to the Azores ended yesterday. It was organized by CHAM—Centro da Humanidades—in cooperation with the Centro de Estudos da Universidade dos Açores.

in Correio dos Açores, Natalino Viveiros-director

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno, PBBI thanks the Luso-American Education Foundation for sponsoring FILAMENTOS.