UCP Editora launches biography of Valentim Xavier Pintado

UCP Editora and the Fundação Amélia de Mello have just launched “Professor Xavier Pintado”, a biography of the economist and former professor and Vice-Chancellor of Católica, written by Francisco Azevedo e Silva.

The book was presented at the university's headquarters in Lisbon on 22 September, during a tribute to Valentim Xavier Pintado, on what would have been his 100th birthday.

For the President of Universidade Católica, Professor Xavier Pintado was a “major figure in our institutional history and an academic reference whose life is intertwined in many ways with the development of the university itself, which he served with exemplary dedication”. The role he played in the growth of the institution in the 1980s and 1990s, his innovative approach to fundraising to build the CATÓLICA-LISBON building, his vision of academia as a pillar of the common good, and his defence of universities as spaces of social responsibility were some of the aspects highlighted by Isabel Capeloa Gil.

‘May his example continue to inspire us and may his life always remind us that institutions are built with ideas, courage and, above all, with people like Prof. Xavier Pintado,’ concluded the President.

Praising his technical and human qualities, Vasco de Mello, president of Fundação Amélia de Mello, also highlighted Xavier Pintado as ‘a personality belonging to a generation that marked an era in Portugal’. He also praised the decision to publish biographies, which allows ‘in an organised manner, texts that appeal to younger people to be made available, providing access to sources and references on important personalities’.

‘Professor Xavier Pintado’ is the fourth volume in the Timeline – Timeless Biographies collection, which includes works on Father José Bacelar e Oliveira, Dom António Ribeiro and Professor Mário Pinto.

“Through the authors, the remarkable lives of the biographees are highlighted, identifying teachings and reflections that we intend to be lessons for the present with an impact on the future,” emphasised the director of UCP Editora, Anabela Antunes.

First director of the Faculty of Economics and Business Sciences (now CATÓLICA-LISBON) between 1989 and 1995, where he implemented several pedagogical innovations, notably the Executive School, Valentim Xavier Pintado was also a member of the executive management committee of the Faculty of Human Sciences. He was also a unique economist and intellectual, professor (1992–2000) and Vice-Rector of Católica. Throughout his life, he held the position of Secretary of State for Trade (1962–1972), worked at EFTA and the OECD, and was a founding member of CDS – Centro Democrático Social. Born in Freixo de Espada à Cinta, he passed away on 29 September 2016, at the age of 91.

Several of these moments were recalled during the tribute, which featured testimonials from Mário Pinto and the author of the biography, Francisco Azevedo e Silva, “Prof. Xavier Pintado, besides being a great humanist, a man of faith and courage, independent and exceptionally skilled, was a dreamer, a visionary, a visionary for the good of others,” summarised the biographer.

Photo credit: ©Fundação Amélia de Mello