Bronze medallion poet Teófilo Carneiro - Ponte de Lima

On the facade of the house on the corner of R Cardeal Saraiva there is a hymn that the poet dedicates to Ponte de Lima, his beloved hometown and a bronze medallion by Teófilo Maciel Pais Carneiro.

He was born in the city on 24 March 1891. He studied law at the University of Coimbra and began his profession as a lawyer. At the same time he was a valued teacher. In addition to his professional activities, Teófilo Carneiro paid special attention to the political, social and cultural life of his time. As a moderate republican, he collaborated in the press and he himself directed the short-lived newspaper "Democracia do Lima" (1921-22) - "the first openly republican newspaper published in Ponte de Lima".

In addition to his career as a lawyer, he held various positions - he was president of the Democratic Centre of Ponte de Lima; mayor of Ponte de Lima (1918 and 1919); member of parliament for the same constituency, within the Democratic Party, for two terms (1922-1926); president of the Senate (1923-1926) and municipal councilor. He was invited to government positions in the capital, but refused .

Teófilo Carneiro died prematurely, at the age of fifty-eight , on August 3, 1949, at his home in Ponte de Lima.

Teófilo Carneiro was a cultivated man with a fine sense. His love for literature and poetic writing is therefore not surprising. Despite the fact that he wrote and published several texts, he died without publishing his literary output in a book. Only a few years after his death was an unpretentious posthumous collection published, entitled "Poesias de Teófilo Carneiro".

Willem Vandenameele