Pedro Theotónio Pereira: a short political and ideological biography. The early years (1920-1939)

Abstract

The goal of this short paper is mainly twofold. The first one is to briefly sketch the political and ideological biography of Pedro Theotónio Pereira during his formative years – roughly from 1920 to 1932 – and his early life as a man with a particular job to perform in the initial stages of the Portuguese authoritarian regime headed by António de Oliveira Salazar from 1933 to 1968 and known as the Estado Novo (New State). The second one is to shed some light into the history of the New State under a somewhat fresh perspective. I intend to show how the role played by individuals, whose political biography in terms of influence was almost insignificant until very late in the history of the Portuguese Republic (1910-1926) and the military dictatorship (1926-1933) that followed it, turned suddenly and became not only important by their own merit but also vital to strengthen a regime born out of the 1933 Constitution and of Salazar’s political leadership.