Committee of Honour
The Committee of Honour is a body composed of 113 people who, due to their merit and public relevance, contribute to the regional, national and international affirmation of Ponta Delgada — Azores candidacy for European Capital of Culture 2027. The Committee of Honour’s chair is the renowned professor and writer Onésimo Teotónio de Almeida.
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Onésimo Teotónio de Almeida
Writer and University Lecturer
Ponta Delgada, partnering with all the municipalities of the Azores, intends to mobilise this unique and exemplary cultural capital and serve as the magnetic pole of a programme that will cover the entire archipelago, making the Azores an attractive, even fascinating destination for Europeans and others alike.
Europe, which has recently come to realise the existence of this remarkable group of islands, will have the opportunity to become more aware of a vast heritage that was previously unknown to it. Nevertheless, it will be one that it will discover with pleasure and enthusiasm once it realises that it is Europe itself that extends out into the Atlantic on the way westwards, beyond its continental borders. (...)
Europe will discover our experience of European values in a physical space of unparalleled beauty, in a geography that has managed to preserve the best that nature has to offer, combined with a history full of vigour and creativity. We have never lacked European cultural capital in almost six centuries of our existence. All that remains now is to transform it into the European Capital of Culture.
Onésimo Teotónio de Almeida
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Committee of Honour Members:
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Álamo Oliveira
Poet and Writer
Álvaro França
Sculptor
Álvaro Laborinho Lúcio
Writer. Emeritus Judge of the Supreme Court of Justice and former Minister of Justice
Ana Príncipe
Healthcare worker
Ângela Costa Simões
Chair of the Portuguese American Leadership Council of the United States (PALCUS)
Anthony De Sá
Writer and Professor
António Bensaude de Castro Freire
Vice-President of the Board of Directors of the Bensaude Group
Anthony De Sá
Writer and Professor
António Frias
Construction Business owner (USA)
António Machado Pires
1942-2022
Former Rector of the University of the Azores; Essayist and researcher
António Maria Gonçalves
Artist and politician
António Pedroso
Artist and business owner
António Valdemar
Journalist and researcher
Artur Teodoro de Matos
Historian and Full Professor
Augusto de Athayde
Lawyer
Avelino de Freitas de Meneses
Historian and Full Professor and former Rector of the University of the Azores
Berta Cabral
Former Mayor of Ponta Delgada
Carlos Alberto Moniz
Conductor, musician and composer
Carlos Carreiro
Visual artist
Carlos César
Former President of the Government of the Azores
Carlos Costa Neves
Former Member of the European Parliament
Carlos Melo Bento
Lawyer
Carlos Pacheco Andrade
Business owner (USA)
Carlos Salema
Professor. President of the Lisbon Academy of Sciences
Dom Carlos Ximenes Belo
Former Bishop of Dili - 1996 Nobel Peace Prize winner
Catarina Wallenstein
Actress
Chrys Chrystello
Journalist and writer
Cinelândia Cogumbreiro
Former Member of the Legislative Regional Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores
Honorary President of the Azores Child Support Institute (Instituto de Apoio à Criança - Açores)
Daniel da Ponte
Former State Senator of Rhode Island and financial consultant
Delfina Porto
President of the Casa dos Açores (House of the Azores) in Lisbon
Diniz Borges
University lecturer in Fresno and director of the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute
Dionisio Leite
Former President of the Municipal Assembly of Ponta Delgada
D. Duarte of Bragança
Duke of Bragança
Duarte Freitas
Politician and former Member of the European Parliament
Duarte M. da Ponte Miranda
Commander of the Order of Merit of Portugal
Duarte Silva
Researcher at Stanford University, USA
Dulce Scott
Full Professor of Sociology and Criminal Justice at Anderson University, Indiana
Eduardo Bettencourt Pinto
Poet and Writer
Eduardo Ferraz da Rosa
University lecturer, researcher, writer and essayist
Eduíno de Jesus
Poet, essayist and literary critic
Fábio Manuel Machado Mendes
Teacher and Pianist
Fernando Dacosta
Journalist and Writer
Fernando de Melo Gomes
Admiral Former Chief of Staff of the Portuguese Navy
Fernando Menezes
Former President of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores
Fernando Tordo
Singer and Songwriter
Francisco Cota Fagundes
Emeritus Professor of Portuguese at the University of Massachusetts - USA
Francisco Gomes de Menezes
Architect
Francisco Pacheco Rêgo Costa
President of the Municipal Assembly of Ponta Delgada
Frank Sousa
Professor of Portuguese and Director of the Saab Center for Portuguese Studies at the University of Massachusetts Lowell
Frank X. Gaspar
Writer
Gilberta Rocha
Full Professor
Gonçalo Botelho
President of Fundação dos Botelhos de Nossa Senhora da Vida (foundation)
Gualter Furtado
Economist and President of the Economic and Social Council of the Azores
Hélio Costa
Writer, author of musical themes for the Carnaval da Ilha Terceira (Terceira Island Carnival)
Henrique de Aguiar
President of the Instituto Cultural de Ponta Delgada (Cultural Institute of Ponta Delgada)
and former President of the Municipal Assembly of Ponta Delgada
Humberto Melo
Former President of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores
Irene Blayer
Full Professor, Brock University, Canada
Jaime José Matos da Gama
Former President of the Portuguese Parliament
Joana Marques Vidal
Former Prosecutor General of the Portuguese Republic
João Aguiar Machado
Head of the Permanent Mission of the European Union to the World Trade Organization (WTO)
João Bosco Mota Amaral
First President of the Government of the Azores and former President of the Portuguese Parliament
João de Melo
Writer
João Luís Roque Baptista Gaspar
Rector of the University of the Azores
Bishop João Lavrador
Bishop of Angra
Jorge Costa Pereira
Teacher, director of the newspaper Tribuna das Ilhas and vice-president of Núcleo Cultural da Horta (NCH)
Jorge Couto
Professor
José Alfredo Ferreira Almeida
Researcher and essayist
José Carlos Teixeira
Full Professor at the University of British Columbia, Canada
José Francisco Costa
Retired Professor at Bristol Community College and writer
José Germano Rego de Sousa
Former President of the Portuguese Medical Association
José Lopes de Araújo
Journalist, lawyer, former Director of RTP-Açores TV channel and currently Director of Public,
International Affairs and Archive at RTP-Portuguese Public Broadcaster
José Manuel Bolieiro
President of the Regional Government of the Azores
José Manuel Martins Goulart
University Lecturer and PhD in Mathematics
José Oulman Carp
President of the board of the Israeli Community of Lisbon
José Reis Leite
Former President of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores,
Researcher and essayist
Katherine Vaz
Writer
Lélia Nunes
Writer
Linhares Furtado
Surgeon and University lecturer
Luís Garcia
President of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores
Luís Gil Bettencourt
Musician
Luís Miranda
Politician (Canada)
Luís Paulo Alves
Former Member of the European Parliament
Luís Paulo Faria Ribeiro
Architect
Luís Pedroso
Business owner (USA)
Luiz Antônio Assis Brasil
Writer and University lecturer
Luiz Fagundes Duarte
University lecturer, researcher and essayist
Manuel Arruda
Former Mayor of Ponta Delgada
Manuel da Costa Fontes
Retired professor at Kent State University, Ohio
Manuel Sousa Lima
Designer and Member of the Royal Society of Arts
Manuela Eanes
Founder and former president of the Portuguese Child Support Institute (IAC)
Maria do Céu Patrão Neves
Full Professor
Michael Benevides
Business owner (USA)
Michael J. Rodrigues
Senator of Massachusetts
Norberto Ávila
1936-2022
Playwright, novelist, short story writer and poet
Nuno Bettencourt
Musician
Paulina Arruda
Psychologist and co-owner of radio station WGFD (New Bedford)
Paulo Casaca
Former Member of the European Parliament
Pedro Bicudo
Journalist and researcher
Pedro Pauleta
Former football player and President of the Fundação Pauleta (foundation)
Pedro Verona Pires
Former President of the Republic of Cape Verde
Ricardo Serrão Santos
Senior Researcher, University of the Azores Minister of Sea and former Member of the European Parliament
Roberto Carneiro
Engineer, University Lecturer and former Minister for Education
Romão Braz
Vice President of Finançor Group
Rosa Simas
University Lecturer and activist
Rubens de Almeida Pavão
Former school headmaster of Ponta Delgada and researcher
Sofia Ribeiro
Former Member of the European Parliament and current Regional Secretary for Education
Susana Goulart Costa
University lecturer and former Regional Director for Culture
Tomaz Borba Vieira
Teacher, painter and writer
Urbano Bettencourt
Poet and writer
Vamberto Freitas
University lecturer and writer
Vasco Garcia
Former rector of the University of the Azores and former Member of the European Parliament
Victor Rui Dores
Teacher and writer
Zeca Medeiros
Film director, actor and composer