Francisco Leal Paiva
Biography
Francisco Leal Paiva was born in 1937. He studied Medicine at the University of Coimbra and distinguished himself as a student leader during the 1962 academic crisis in that city.
Between 1958 and 1962, he lived in the Republic of Os Galifões. After the leadership of the Academic Association of Coimbra (AAC) had been continuously subject to the dictatorship between 1944 and 1960, the opposition won the elections in 1960. In 1961/1962, they repeated the victory. However, arbitrarily, the elected president, José Lopes de Almeida, and his replacement, Jorge Aguiar, were immediately mobilized for the colonial war. Francisco Leal Paiva was thus chosen to preside over the AAC. After the creation of the Provisional National Secretariat of Portuguese Students in early 1962, Francisco Paiva played a decisive role in preparing the 1st National Student Meeting, in conjunction with the Academies of Lisbon and Porto. Despite being prohibited by the Minister of Education, it took place from March 9th to 11th, 1962, in Coimbra.
The response from the regime and academic authorities was harsh. By decision of the University Senate, 34 students from the University of Coimbra were sentenced to six months of expulsion. The seven members of the board, including Francisco Paiva, were expelled from all national schools for a period of two years.
Francisco Paiva resumed his studies, completing them only in 1966/1967, after three academic years were lost. Already married and with two children, to avoid being drafted into the colonial war, he decided to leave Portugal and settle in Switzerland until 1976.
Date of Collection: 08.02.2017
Keywords: Academic crisis of 1962, Students, Censorship, Repression, Colonial War, Exile, 25 April.
