Fernando Raul da Conceição Penteado

Fernando Raul da Conceição Penteado was born on September 7, 1951, in Abrantes. At the age of six, he moved with his family to Lisbon. They later settled in Almada. Radio Moscow was always playing at home.

While in his third year at the School of Agricultural Regents in Santarém, he decided to leave the country and not fight in the colonial war in Angola. The idea was to return later to participate in the armed struggle in Portugal. In October 1970, he left the country with three other classmates, without a smuggler or documents, through the Guarda area, crossing the border north of Vilar Formoso. From Salamanca, he went to Paris and then Brussels, where he obtained political refugee status and received support from members of the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) and the Association of Portuguese Emigrants in Belgium. His two children were born in Brussels. He worked in cleaning, advertising distribution, and hospitality before specializing as a mechanical fitter.

He returned to Portugal after April 25, 1974. He joined the PCP and the Portuguese Democratic Movement/Electoral Democratic Commission (MDP/CDE). From October 1974 onwards, he completed his military service at the Cavalry School in Santarém.

Collection Date: December 6, 2018