Fernando Luís Barreiros dos Reis

(Arranhó, Arruda dos Vinhos, 16-11-1950 – Lisbon, 25-04-1974)

Fernando Reis, son of Alice and Luís Reis, was born on 16 November 1950 in Arranhó, Arruda dos Vinhos. At the age of 11, he went to Casa Pia, where he studied until 1967.

Little is known about the life of Fernando Reis, except that, at the time of his death, he was a soldier of the 1st Disciplinary Company of Penamacor, a unit historically used by the Estado Novo to punish military personnel and members of the opposition accused of indiscipline. On 25 April 1974, when the military coup broke out, he was on leave in Lisbon, joining the thousands of people accompanying the main events on the streets of Lisbon. At the end of the day, a crowd gathered in front of the headquarters of the General Directorate of Security (DGS) – formerly the International and State Defence Police (PIDE) – demanding its occupation and surrender. However, the officers of the political police – whose continuity had been foreseen by António de Spínola, leader of the National Salvation Junta, which had taken over power – refused to surrender. Already after Marcelo Caetano’s (the President of the Council) surrender in Largo do Carmo, DGS officers opened fire on the crowd that gathered in Rua António Maria Cardoso, from the windows of the building, causing dozens of wounded and four dead.

Fernando Reis, 23 years old, father of two, was hit by the DGS bullets and died in the Military Hospital of Estrela. The identity of the killers is still unknown today.

In 1980, given the absence of an official toponymic tribute by the public authorities, a group of citizens placed a plaque next to the building of the old headquarters of the political police in memory and homage to those who were killed by the PIDE/DGS on 25 April 1974.