My Portugal Series: Onésimo Almeida
Onésimo Almeida is recently retired professor of Brown University, who specialized in Portuguese cultural and intellectual history. Born in São Miguel, Azores, and educated in Portugal and the U.S., he holds an MA and Ph.D. in Philosophy from Brown. A prolific writer, he has authored numerous scholarly works, short stories, and plays, and serves as a key figure in promoting Portuguese culture in North America through initiatives like Gávea-Brown Publications. Recognized with prestigious awards, including honors from the Portuguese government, Almeida’s work continues to bridge Portuguese and American cultures, offering insights into Lusophone identity and global cultural exchange.
It was an absolute privilege to interview Onésimo Almeida for this feature, and we're thrilled to offer you a glimpse into the mind of an academic who has profoundly shaped the study of Portuguese culture and philosophy.
Portugalia Marketplace: You’ve had a long and successful career both as a scholar and a writer. What inspired you to specialize in Portuguese cultural and intellectual history, and how has your passion for this field evolved over the years?
Onésimo Almeida: While I was a graduate student in Philosophy at Brown, George Monteiro, a Portuguese-American professor of American Literature, invited me to join the faculty of the Center for Portuguese and Brazilian Studies that was being established at the university. I accepted because it would allow me to continue as a part-time Philosophy student. My proposal was accepted, and I was both a student and a full-time lecturer for a few years. After finishing my Ph.D. in Philosophy, I was allowed to teach courses in Philosophy as well as Portuguese Intellectual History and Culture. That is what I did for 50 years. The Center for Portuguese and Brazilian Studies expanded and became a Department, which I later directed for twelve years. Along with my association with the Department, I was also associated with the Wayland Collegium for Liberal Learning and the Center for the Study of the Early Modern World, for which I taught an interdisciplinary seminar that combined Portuguese Cultural History with Philosophy.
PM: You were born in S. Miguel, Azores, and pursued your education in both Portugal and the U.S., earning your MA and Ph.D. from Brown University. What initially brought you to the United States, and how did that decision shape the direction of your academic and professional career?
OA: My parents and most of my family were already in the United States. Actually, I was the only one of my immediate family left in Portugal. I was a student at the Catholic University of Lisbon, and the director of the Department of Philosophy suggested that I take advantage of my family's presence in the US to come and spend some years here, get a Ph.D., and then return to Portugal to teach at the University. The director thought enriching the department with someone educated at an American university was a good idea. Life, however, constantly pokes fun at our plans. My professor left the Catholic University, the April 25th revolution came about in Portugal, I got my first diploma at Brown (I met a woman whom I married), and I ended up staying for 52 years.
PM: Your body of work spans various genres, from scholarly essays to creative writing. Are there any overarching themes or ideas that you find yourself consistently exploring across your different forms of writing?
OA: Yes. My theoretical interest in the Philosophy of Social Sciences and my immersion in Portuguese Intellectual and Cultural history, helped by my experiences with the Portuguese-American communities in their attempts at adapting to the Anglo-American culture, got me interested in the issue of modernity and the values that led to the establishment of the modern state. My courses at Brown were all about these issues. The history of Portugal in the last four centuries has been a struggle with the issue of modernity after Portugal played a vanguard role in the first globalization in the 15th and 16th centuries. Portugal discovered two thirds of the globe for Europe. But after that, Portugal let other countries lead the course to modernity.
My creative writing touches upon the same issues. Even my short stories about immigration reflect that interest of mine.
PM: You’ve played a key role in promoting Portuguese literature in North America through Gávea-Brown Publications and other ventures. How do you see the Lusophone diaspora contributing to global literary and cultural conversations today?
OA: When I came to the US in the early seventies, very few people had heard of Portugal. We have come a long way. In the last ten years, Portugal, and the Azores in particular, is talked about more as a place to visit. After the April 25th, 1974 revolution [Carnation Revolution], Portugal started catching up with the modern world, and so did the Azores.
Joining the European Union was a big push in that direction. The works of Portuguese authors had begun to be translated, especially after José Saramago won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Fernando Pessoa has been making inroads in the English-speaking world. The famous New Directions of New York is publishing translations of his work. António Lobo Antunes, Lidia Jorge, and many others are being translated.
I started Gávea-Brown Publications in 1980, and we published authors like Pessoa, Camilo Castelo Branco, and Miguel Torga, and Azorean writers like Vitorino Nemésio and Dias de Melo. Now that I have retired, I am continuing that line of work cooperating with Tagus Press of U Mass Dartmouth. We are publishing revised editions of the books I published, plus many new works by Azorean writers. Tagus Press also publishes other Portuguese authors.
Indeed, Anglo-American publishers are much more receptive to Portuguese authors and topics. I co-direct a Lusophone World Series at Liverpool University Press, and we have published more than 20 books. I am also associated with Diluvio, a Lisbon publisher specializing in Portuguese literature in translation, in addition to English, in Spanish, Italian, French, and Japanese.
PM: For someone interested in exploring Portuguese culture, which of your own works would you recommend as a starting point?
OA: My English writings are scattered in collective books and journals. Tagus Press has been after me to publish a translation of two of my books—Açores, Açorianos, Açorianidade, and O Peso do Hífen - The Hyphen's Weight, a collection of Portuguese-American essays. Various of my essays are available online. One of the most popularA Profile of the Azorean. It is my fault that more are not out yet. I have a short collection of Portuguese-American stories —Tales from the Tenth Island,published in Ireland, but available to any interested reader.
I have a good hundred essays in English on various topics. I feel the best way to answer this question is by offering to share some of those writings with whomever is interested. I can select and send them according to the interests of the person who writes to me. I have no problem sharing my email address: onesimo_almeida@brown.edu
PM: If you had to choose four of your favorite items from Portugalia Marketplace, what would they be?
OA: It is impossible to answer this question. I think I have bought just about every sort of item from Portugalia Market, including codfish and take-out food. I make a point of stopping by every time I pass by on Interstate 195. I enjoy it particularly when I am with visitors from out of state and out of the country. I think they should see how this new generation of Portuguese immigrants is thriving and how it is not necessary to leave Fall River and New Bedford to experience it.
