茄子直播

Portugal鈥檚 president commemorates 75 years of Portuguese language program at 茄子直播

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Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa signs the University of Toronto Distinguished Visitors Book at Simcoe Hall (photo by Johnny Guatto)

The University of Toronto welcomed Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa to the St. George campus last week to commemorate 75 years of the Spanish and Portuguese language program in the Faculty of Arts & Science.

Rebelo de Sousa鈥檚 visit was part of that coincided with the 70th anniversary of the arrival of the first significant wave of Portuguese immigrants to the country.

Addressing 茄子直播 students and professors, as well as high school students and teachers, Rebelo de Sousa said 鈥渋t鈥檚 an honour to me, my country and my people鈥 to visit the university and acknowledged 茄子直播鈥檚 early commitment to Portuguese language scholarship.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 something I would call perspective,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e are very grateful for it.鈥

茄子直播 President Meric Gertler welcomed the president, his delegation and attendees and said that 茄子直播 is honoured to play a part in expanding the ties between Canada and Portugal.

鈥淭he Portuguese community has deep roots here with business, cultural and community organizations contributing to Toronto鈥檚 rich cultural landscape,鈥 he said, noting that Portuguese is fifth-most prevalent language spoken in Toronto, excluding English and French.

Rebelo de Sousa, for his part, highlighted the significance of Portuguese as a language of business, science, culture, and education.

鈥淔or all those who don鈥檛 speak Portuguese, learning the Portuguese language is now more than an exercise in intellectual curiosity,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a safe investment in personal and professional development.鈥

The Portuguese delegation 鈥 which included senior government leaders and Ant贸nio Le茫o Rocha, Ambassador of Portugal to Canada 鈥 were welcomed by President Gertler, Anna Kennedy, chair of Governing Council, Professor Melanie Woodin, dean of the Faculty of Arts & Science, Professor Ana T. P茅rez-Leroux, chair of the department of Spanish and Portuguese, and other 茄子直播 senior leaders.

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Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa views items from the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library 鈥檚 Portuguese collection as 茄子直播 President Meric Gertler looks on (photo by Johnny Guatto)

During the event, two students from the Faculty of Music performed Portuguese folk songs and P茅rez-Leroux moderated a question-and-answer session with students in the audience. There was a signing of memoranda supporting a continued agreement between the Cam玫es Institute and the department of Spanish and Portuguese at 茄子直播.

鈥溓炎又辈 is fortunate to play a vital role in promoting and preserving the Portuguese language,鈥 Woodin said.

鈥淭he Faculty of Arts and Science is proud to be home to the department of Spanish and Portuguese 鈥 a place where students can explore these major languages and literatures and appreciate the influential societal, artistic and intellectual history of Ibero-America.鈥

Toward the end of the event, President Gertler accompanied Rebelo de Sousa to the boardroom to view artifacts from the Portuguese collection at 茄子直播鈥檚 Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library. They included: a first edition of a selection of shipwreck narratives called Historia tragico-maritima that was originally published as news flyers and sold in the streets of Lisbon; a collection of poems or romances by Bernarda Ferreira de Lacerda, one of the earliest women writers in Portuguese; and two works of poetry by Ant贸nio Botto and Judith Teixeira that are now considered key publications in Portugal鈥檚 LGBTQ history.

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Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa shakes hands with a student (photo by Lisa Sakulensky)

Luis Antunes, a computer engineering student in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering and president of the University of Toronto Portuguese Student Association (UTPA), said that as a recent immigrant to Canada, he noticed that not many young Portuguese people speak Portuguese. 

鈥淚 moved here two years ago, and I think it鈥檚 very important for us to maintain our cultural heritage and for future generations to still speak Portuguese,鈥 said Antunes, adding that he admires the president鈥檚 professional career as a former law professor, journalist and political commentator.  

鈥淚鈥檝e had family members who were his students when he was a professor. It was an honour to be able to meet him and share this moment with the rest of the UTPA members.鈥

 

 

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