How would you describe the process of coordinating these volumes—eight in total—and what criteria guided the selection of the texts included in the first two books?

The process of coordinating these volumes, published by the Instituto Histórico da Ilha Terceira, has been both profoundly enriching and deeply demanding, given the breadth, complexity, and intellectual density of Álvaro Monjardino’s written work. I accepted the editorial coordination of the Collected Works of Álvaro Monjardino with a profound sense of responsibility, striving to conduct the project with the utmost rigor, civic duty, and respect for the intellectual, public, and human dimension of the legacy now being brought to publication. Participating in this endeavor has represented far more than an editorial assignment; it has been a personal privilege—the opportunity to contribute to the preservation and reaffirmation of the memory of one of the most consequential figures in modern Azorean public life.

From the outset, we understood that the collection should follow the organizational framework proposed by the author himself. That decision lends the project a particular authenticity and fidelity to his intellectual legacy. His guidance proved essential in preserving both the coherence of the collection and the manner in which Álvaro Monjardino envisioned these texts speaking to one another across themes and historical moments.

The first volume, dedicated to Autonomy, brings together foundational texts necessary for understanding both the origins and the consolidation of the Azorean autonomous process, as well as the strategic vision that Álvaro Monjardino projected for the Azores. It is therefore especially meaningful that this became the inaugural volume of the Collected Works, appearing at a moment when the fiftieth anniversary of Azorean Autonomy is being commemorated. The second volume, centered on Politics, reveals a broader and more structured reflection on governance, democracy, citizenship, and the place of the Azores within both the national and international spheres.

The collection is organized around themes such as Autonomy, Politics, Other Geographies, and Spirituality. What internal logic guided the construction of this editorial architecture?

The first two volumes focused exclusively on the themes of Autonomy and Politics because of the sheer breadth and density of Álvaro Monjardino’s writings in these areas. For the subsequent volumes, it became necessary to adopt a broader thematic organization capable of accommodating the diversity and dispersion of subjects addressed throughout his body of work.

Thus emerged the volume Other Geographies, which gathers reflections devoted to different international spaces and realities. The volume Atlantic Space and Communication assembles texts concerning the strategic insertion of the Azores within the Atlantic world, as well as the institutional, territorial, and communicative dynamics shaping the islands’ relationship with the outside world. Personalities and Spirituality compiles writings centered on questions related to the Church, alongside essays on influential personalities within Azorean and Portuguese society.

The sixth and seventh volumes will collect lectures, conference papers, and interventions delivered in a variety of scientific, academic, and cultural contexts, bearing witness to the author’s public and intellectual dimension. Bringing the collection to a close, the eighth volume—whose publication will coincide with the centenary of his birth—will be dedicated to his memoirs, standing as a major testament to his human, civic, and intellectual journey.

In the preface, you describe this work as “a space of convergence” for Álvaro Monjardino’s thought. What contribution do you believe this gathering of writings offers to contemporary readings of Autonomy and Azorean political history?

This work possesses particular significance because it gathers, within a single space of reflection, the different interventions and perspectives through which Álvaro Monjardino addressed the construction of Autonomy and the political evolution of the Azores. By constituting this “space of convergence,” the collection allows readers to understand not only the historical events themselves, but also the thought, concerns, and strategic vision of one of the defining figures of the Azorean autonomous process.

More than a mere documentary record, this body of work offers a critical and contextualized reading of regional political history. At the same time, it helps bring new generations closer to that historical trajectory, reinforcing the importance of political memory and civic debate in understanding contemporary Azorean identity.

The final volume, scheduled for publication in 2030, will include Álvaro Monjardino’s unpublished memoirs. What kinds of revelations or new perspectives do you expect this material to bring?

The final volume will carry particular significance insofar as it will include the unpublished memoirs of Álvaro Monjardino, whose publication was authorized by the family in a gesture of extraordinary generosity and unmistakable commitment to the preservation of Azorean collective memory.

This is a testimony of undeniable historical, political, and human value, one that will allow for a closer and deeper understanding of the trajectory of one of the central figures of Azorean public, cultural, and autonomous life. More than possible revelations of a strictly political nature, these memoirs are especially compelling because they offer new perspectives on the contexts, circumstances, and motivations surrounding decisive moments in contemporary Azorean history.

Their value also resides in the opportunity they provide to understand the human, intellectual, and emotional dimensions of Álvaro Monjardino—his convictions, inquietudes, cultural references, and the manner in which he interpreted and lived through the great debates of his era. This memorial body of work will enrich historiographical readings of numerous events through firsthand testimony concerning political processes, institutional relationships, and the defining personalities of the time.

At the same time, its more intimate and reflective dimension will reveal how Monjardino articulated civic and political engagement with a profoundly humanistic and cultural vision of the Azores. I believe this final volume will offer readers not only contact with the politician and the thinker, but also with the personal dimension of the man who stood at the origin of that intellectual and public journey.

At a moment when debate surrounding Autonomy has regained renewed intensity, what relevance do you find in Monjardino’s thought for understanding the political and institutional challenges facing the Azores today?

Álvaro Monjardino’s thought remains profoundly relevant because it reminds us that Autonomy is not a completed process, but rather a continuous construction—one that requires adaptation, dialogue, and strategic vision. His outlook sought to affirm the Azores not merely as an administrative reality, but as a community endowed with its own identity, decision-making capacity, and responsibility for its political, economic, and cultural development.

Monjardino’s writings help us understand the importance of an Autonomy grounded in institutional balance, in the affirmation of Azorean identity, and in the defense of the Region’s interests within both the national and European frameworks. Furthermore, his reflections remain remarkably current because of their ability to reconcile political vision with democratic responsibility.

Álvaro Monjardino understood Autonomy as an instrument of proximity between institutions and citizens, and not simply as a political conquest.

Translated and adapted from an interview in Diário Insular, José Lourenço-director.