Conceição Matos is a Portuguese communist who campaigned against the authoritarian rule of the '' Estado Novo'' regime in the 1960s. She was arrested and subjected to considerable torture.
Early life
Maria da Conceição Rodrigues de Matos was born in 1936 in São Pedro do Sul in the
Viseu District
The District of Viseu ( pt, Distrito de Viseu ) is located in the Central Inland of Portugal, the District Capital is the city of Viseu.
Municipalities
The district is composed by 24 municipalities:
* Armamar
* Carregal do Sal
* Castro Daire ...
of Portugal. Three years later, her family moved to the industrial area of
Barreiro Barreiro may refer to:
People
* Bruno Barreiro (born 1965), American politician
* Gustavo Barreiro (1959–2019), American politician
* Manu Barreiro (born 1986), Spanish footballer
Places
* Barreiro, Portugal
** Barreiro Municipality, a mun ...
on the left bank of the
Tagus
The Tagus ( ; es, Tajo ; pt, Tejo ; see below) is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. The river rises in the Montes Universales near Teruel, in mid-eastern Spain, flows , generally west with two main south-westward sections, to ...
river, to the immediate south of the Portuguese capital of Lisbon, living in what she has described as a "wooden shack". Her mother had 16 children, of whom only 5 survived. She ceased school at a young age and went to work, having a variety of jobs, including dressmaker, working in a soft-drinks factory and working in a
cork
Cork or CORK may refer to:
Materials
* Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product
** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container
***Wine cork
Places Ireland
* Cork (city)
** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...
factory and for the conglomerate
Companhia União Fabril The Companhia União Fabril (CUF) was one of the largest and oldest Portuguese conglomerates from the 1930s to 1974 and later a chemical corporation which was by then a part of Grupo José de Mello founded in 1988. After many acquisitions, mergers ...
(CUF).
Becoming a communist
When she was 18, Matos spent three months in a sanatorium with tuberculosis. In the same year, her brother Alfredo was arrested by the
PIDE
The International and State Defense Police ( pt, Polícia Internacional e de Defesa do Estado; PIDE) was a Portuguese security agency that existed during the '' Estado Novo'' regime of António de Oliveira Salazar. Formally, the main roles of ...
, Portugal's secret police under the ''Estado Novo''. Because of this event, she joined the anti-government cause, starting her political activity with the youth wing of the
Movement of Democratic Unity The Movement of Democratic Unity ( pt, Movimento de Unidade Democrática or MUD) was a quasi-legal platform of Portuguese democratic organizations that opposed the authoritarian regime of António de Oliveira Salazar and was founded in October 1945. ...
(''Movimento de Unidade Democrática'' or ''MUD''). In the 1950s, she met the man who was to become her husband, Domingos Abrantes, and became a member of the
Portuguese Communist Party
The Portuguese Communist Party ( pt, Partido Comunista Português, , PCP) is a communist, Marxist–Leninist political party in Portugal based upon democratic centralism. The party also considers itself patriotic and internationalist,Portug ...
(PCP). From 1963, she went into hiding with Abrantes, who was responsible for PCP activities south of the River Tagus and at the time was best-known for being one of the political prisoners to escape from Caxias prison on the outskirts of Lisbon in 1961. During this clandestine existence, Matos distributed the PCP newspaper ''
Avante!
''Avante!'' (''Onwards!'') is the official newspaper of the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP). Founded in 1931, it continues to be published to this day. The newspaper's motto is ''Workers of the World, Unite!'' and has been present in every e ...
'', wrote propaganda materials, and looked after the houses where she and Abrantes lived in Amora,
Costa da Caparica
Costa da Caparica () is a Portuguese civil parish, located in the municipality of Almada along the western coast of the district of Setúbal. The population in 2011 was 13,418,Montijo, all in the
Setúbal District
The District of Setúbal ( pt, Distrito de Setúbal ) is a district located in the south-west of Portugal. It is named for its capital, the city of Setúbal.
Geography
It is delimited by Lisbon District and Santarém District on the north, � ...
.
Arrests
On 21 April 1965, the couple were arrested in their house in Montijo by the PIDE and guards from the National Republican Guard (GNR). Held in Caxias prison, she was accused of carrying out activities against national security. Matos spent a year and a half in preventive detention. During this time she was interrogated and tortured at the PIDE headquarters in Lisbon. She was subjected to sleep deprivation and forbidden to use the toilet. When nature took its course, she had to clean up with her own clothes and was left naked to be seen by the police. In 1968, she was arrested again, held at Caxias prison for two months and again tortured. Meanwhile, Abrantes was still being held in
Peniche Fortress
The Peniche Fortress is located in the municipality of Peniche in Leiria District, Portugal. Built on the site of the former Castle of Atouguia da Baleia, of which only a few vestiges remain, initial construction took place in 1557 and 1558 but t ...
, another of the prisons designated by the ''Estado Novo'' for political prisoners. They were married in the prison in 1969 so that she could have visitor's rights and they could exchange letters. Matos worked at the National Commission for Relief to Political Prisoners (CNSPP) until Abrantes was released in 1973, when they left Portugal and went to Paris, where they briefly worked for the PCP.
Later life
On 25 April 1974 the
Carnation Revolution
The Carnation Revolution ( pt, Revolução dos Cravos), also known as the 25 April ( pt, 25 de Abril, links=no), was a military coup by left-leaning military officers that overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo regime on 25 April 1974 in Lis ...
overthrew the ''Estado Novo''. The couple returned to Lisbon, on the same plane as the PCP leader
Álvaro Cunhal
Álvaro Barreirinhas Cunhal (; 10 November 1913 – 13 June 2005) was a Portuguese communist revolutionary and politician. He was one of the major opponents of the dictatorial regime of the '' Estado Novo''. He served as secretary-general of the P ...
, the composer, Luís Cília, who wrote the PCP's anthem ''Avante camarada'' (Forward comrade), and the singer-songwriter,
José Mário Branco
José Mário Branco (25 May 1942 – 19 November 2019) was a Portuguese singer-songwriter, actor, and record producer.
Biography
José Mário Branco was born in Porto, the son of primary school teachers, and became politically involved in the ...
, an opponent of Portugal's colonial wars, on what became known as the "freedom plane". She recalled: "There were also many political exiles n the plane including José Mário Branco. We sang so much ..." Matos worked as an employee of the PCP until she retired.