- Francisco Rolão Preto
Francisco de Barcelos Rolão Preto, GCIH (
February 5 /February 12 [Probably the day of hisChristening .] , 1893, Gavião—December 18 1977 , Hospital do Desterro,Lisbon ) was a Portuguese politician, journalist, and leader of the Movimento Nacional-Sindicalista (MNS, also the "Blue Shirts" - "camisas azuis", following the tradition of uniformedfar right and leftist groups), an organisation advocatingSyndicalism andUnionism , against the Corporativist state advocated byFascism andBenito Mussolini 's Italy. MNS was also built on previous allegiances to "Integralismo Lusitano ", in turn not inspired by the "Action Française " as alleged by their adversaries [José Hipólito Raposo, "Dois Nacionalismos - L'Action française e o Integralismo Lusitano, Lisboa", Férin, 1929.] .He advocated especially the
personalism ofEmmanuel Mounier and some of the aspects of unionism which are reminiscent of Leftist ideas ofsocial justice , such as "a minimum family wage", "paid holidays", "working class education", and a world in which workers are "guaranteed the right to happiness".Early life
Cutting short his
lyceum studies, Rolão Preto left for Galicia inSpain , where he joined monarchist army officerHenrique Mitchell de Paiva Couceiro in his 1911-1912 failed attempt to topple down the Portuguese Republic. He then left forBelgium and worked for the integralist magazine "Alma Portuguesa", while completing secondary studies at the "Liceu português" in Louvain, and then attending the Université Catholique.Rolão Preto had to flee Belgium when
World War I began, and took refuge inFrance ; he finished studies at theUniversity of Toulouse , earning a degree inlaw , and returned to Portugal. He replaced the jailedHipólito Raposo as editor of the journal "A Monarquia". A member of the "Junta Central de Integralismo Lusitano" from 1922, he began close collaboration with President of PortugalGomes da Costa even before the28th May 1926 coup d'état which established theDitadura Nacional , and edited the "12 points" the coup leaders published inBraga .Against Salazar Regime
In 1930, he approached
David Neto and other "sidonistas" (conservatives, initially members of thePartido Republicano Nacionalista ), with whom he created the "Liga Nacional 28 de maio", self-proclaimed defender of the "National Revolution"; Rolão Preto gathered notoriety as an advocate ofNational Syndicalism and editor of the "Diário Académico Nacionalista da Tarde" (first published in 1932), soon turned into the "Diário Nacional-Sindicalista da Tarde". The Blue Shirts he founded, which used theOrder of Christ Cross , gave theRoman salute , became very popular in universities and with the youngest officers of thePortuguese Army .He was briefly detained and then exiled, and his MNS banned (together with the MNS journal "Revolução"), after
Antonio Salazar , often considered a fascist himself, came to power and established the Estado Novo régime; perhaps unsurprisingly, Preto ended up opposing the dictatorship of Salazar andMarcelo Caetano from the left. The order for a ban on the party stated that the Blue Shirts had taken inspiration in "foreign models". A part of his movement had decided to join Salazar's União Nacional in 1934. Rolão Preto resided for a while inValencia de Alcántara , nearby the border withCastelo de Vide , and then inMadrid , as a guest in the house ofJosé Antonio Primo de Rivera - with whom he collaborated in formulating a program for theFalange . He returned to Portugal in February 1935, and was detained after instigating a Septemberrebellion with the crew of "Bartolomeu Dias" and thegarrison in theLisbon area ofPenha de França . Again exiled, he fought in theSpanish Civil War onFrancisco Franco 's side.Later years
After
World War II , Rolão Preto joined the left-wing forumMovement of Democratic Unity , and published a volume entitled "A Traição Burguesa" ("TheBourgeois Betrayal"). He also backed more liberal candidates to the Presidency, such asQuintão Meireles ,Francisco Higino Craveiro Lopes , and ultimately Salazar's enemyHumberto Delgado . He also attempted to unite the monarchist movement withinGonçalo Ribeiro Telles 'Movimento Popular Monarquico .He wrote critiques of Mussolini's ideas, immediately after his definitions of Fascist Doctrine in the beginning of the 1930's . Preto was one of the leaders of the
People's Monarchist Party in the period between theCarnation Revolution and his death.Marriage and children
He married Amália de Brito Boavida Godinho (b.
Fundão , Alpedrinha), and had two children:
* Francisco Godinho Rolão Preto (b.Fundão , Soalheira), married to Maria Isabel Correia da Silva Mendes
* Maria Teresa Godinho Rolão Preto (b.Fundão , Soalheira), married to Eduardo Teixeira GomesReferences
External links
* [http://www.gratisweb.com/resistenciae/t006.htm "El Nacional-Sindacismo Lusitano" (spanish) ]
* [http://www.iscsp.utl.pt/cepp/anuario/secxx/ano1932.htm Centro de Estudos do Pensamento Político: Ano 1932 (portuguese) ]
* [http://www.angelfire.com/pq/unica/il_frp_francisco_rolao_preto.htm Rolão Preto short biography (portuguese) ]
* [http://amt.no.sapo.pt/novaversao/opiniao/opi012.htm Integralismo Lusitano - uma síntese (portuguese) ]
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