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Honourable Speaker
Honourable Prime Minister
Ladies and Gentlemen
The centenary of the birth of General Humberto Delgado is commemorated this year.
By taking part in these commemorations, the President of the Republic wishes to pay a fair and deserved homage to one of the most outstanding figures of the Portuguese XX century.
The multifaceted personality of Humberto Delgado contained many qualities. On the one hand, that of a distinguished soldier, highly considered by his peers. On the other, of an exemplary public servant, who, amongst other accomplishments, decisively stamped the genesis of civil aviation in Portugal, and was connected to the setting up, in 1945, of Transportes Aéreos Portugueses (today TAP-Air Portugal). Finally – and this is, undoubtedly, the greatest quality that the Portuguese highlight in him – General Humberto Delgado was an unflagging fighter for liberty in his Country, in the name of which he tragically died.
The circumstance of his remains having been deposited here, the National Pantheon, a space which Portugal reserves to honour the memory of its major figures, is proof of the physical courage and moral grandeur that the Portuguese attribute to the figure of Humberto Delgado.
It is however important that evoking his memory is not exhausted in an occasional commemoration. It is necessary that from this act, and from the Man which we are honouring today, we withdraw an example and a model for the new generations.
On the centenary of his birth, the greatest legacy of Humberto Delgado may be summarized in simple words: love of his Country. During his life, in his personal and political trajectory, whilst a soldier and a citizen, there is an outstanding trait in the personality of General Humberto Delgado: patriotism. It was in the name of that patriotism that he stood out as an officer of the Armed Forces, that he was proven as a pioneer of civil aviation and, finally, became renowned in the 1958 elections and in the opposition to the authoritarian regime.
Evoking his figure must not divide us, since we all share the patriotism and love for Portugal which always gave sense to the life of the “fearless general”.
It is thus, in the name of Portugal and of all the Portuguese, that I wish to homage the memory of Humberto Delgado.
© 2006-2016 Presidency of the Portuguese Republic
You have gained access to the records of the Official Site of the Presidency of the Republic from 9 March 2006 to 9 March 2016.
The contents available here were entered in the site during the 10 year period covering the two mandates of President of the Republic Aníbal Cavaco Silva.
