In 2023 the Municipality of Guarda celebrates the 100th anniversary of the birth of Eduardo Lourenço, a prestigious Portuguese thinker, essayist, philosopher and literary critic.
The celebrations start on May 23rd, the birthday of this reference of Portuguese culture, and will be held until May 23rd 2024. A cooperation that involves the city halls of Guarda and Almeida, Casa da Escrita, in Coimbra, the University of Coimbra, National Culture Centre, Camões Institute, National Library and Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Eduardo Lourenço was born in the tiny village of São Pedro de Rio Seco, in Guarda district. He was the oldest of seven brothers and son of a military official.
He donated his personal library to the Municipal Library of Guarda, named after him, to the University of Coimbra, to Casa da Escrita, also in Coimbra, and his manuscripts are preserved in the National Library, in Lisbon. He studied in the Military College in Lisbon and in the Faculty of Letters of the University of Coimbra, where he graduated in History and Philosophy.
In 1949, he moved to France, when he published his first book Heterodoxia I, "one of the noblest and disturbing essays of Portuguese literary history", according to the Professor and essayist Eugénio Lisboa.
A deep connaisseur of the intricate labyrinths of the Portuguese soul, Eduardo Lourenço was a citizen of the world and a brilliant ambassador of Guarda. His thoughts shed light to a better understanding of the Portuguese identity.