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Workshop “Unarchiving Democracy” held in Leiria explores the role of archives in the fight against racism

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Foundation Closed for Carnival

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Opening of the Mário Soares Garden in Paris

The João Soares House Museum, located in Cortes, Leiria, is temporarily closed due to the consequences of storm Kristin.

The reopening date will be announced in the coming days through the Foundation’s channels.

The Foundation thanks all visitors for their understanding.

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João Soares House Museum temporarily closed

The Mário Soares and Maria Barroso Foundation will be closed on 26, 29 and 30 December, as well as on 2 January.

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Foundation Closure

On 7 December 2025, at 5:00 pm, the Portugal Pavilion in Lisbon hosted the session Mário Soares – words and images, marking the 101st anniversary of the birth of the former President of the Republic.

The programme included the launch of the catalogue Mário Soares: A Man in Full, with contributions from Luís Vasconcelos, José Manuel dos Santos, Sérgio B. Gomes and Bárbara Bulhosa.

This was followed by the screening of the 4th episode of the documentary A Duas Voltas – Mário Soares and the 1986 presidential elections, by Ivan Nunes and Paulo Pena, after which a debate took place with Daniel Oliveira, Francisco Mendes da Silva, Pedro Adão e Silva and Teresa Violante, moderated by Ivan Nunes.

The session concluded with closing remarks by Leonor Beleza and João Soares, highlighting the enduring relevance of Mário Soares’s legacy and the decisive role he played in the consolidation of Portuguese democracy.

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Mário Soares – words and images

Yesterday, September 18, the exhibition “Mário Soares: Um Homem Inteiro” (Mário Soares: A Man in Full) opened at the Portugal Pavilion, bringing together 50 photographs by Luís Vasconcelos, taken over three decades, which reveal the many facets of the former President of the Republic.

The ceremony was attended by the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the Rector of the University of Lisbon, Luís Ferreira, and João Soares, representing the family.

After the opening session, there was a guided tour by photographer Luís Vasconcelos, who shared with those present memories and insights into the moments captured throughout his career.

The exhibition is organized by the Mário Soares Centenary Organizing Committee and the University of Lisbon, with the support of the 50th Anniversary of the 25th of April Commemorative Committee, the Lisbon City Council, and Caixa Geral de Depósitos.

It can be visited from Tuesday to Sunday, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., until January 15, 2026. Admission is free.

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Opening of the exhibition 'Mário Soares: A Man in Full”

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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