Helena Rato
Biography
Maria Helena da Cunha Rato was born in 1944, and a year later, her father, Antonio Ferreira Rato, was arrested. Her maternal uncle, Manuel Cunha Esteves, fought against Franco’s forces in Spain and was subsequently arrested. Her childhood and youth were politically structuring. Her parents’ home was a support center for members of the PCP Secretariat. Jaime Serra, Sérgio Vilarigues, Sofia Ferreira, Cândida Ventura, José Dias Coelho, and Pires Jorge passed through there.
At 15, she joined the family unit, contributing to the home’s security system. She served on the editorial committee of the Diário de Lisboa’s Youth supplement. In 1960, the PCP closed down her parents’ home so that Helena could become deeply involved in the university student organization. She joined the board of the Lisbon University Film Club and participated in the Interassociations Meeting (RIA) during the academic crisis of 1962. She served on the secretariat of the Instituto Superior Técnico, where she studied, the PCP student organization at the Technical University, and later the organization responsible for universities nationwide. She collaborated in recruiting young people for the Patriotic Youth Boards and joined the editorial staff of the newspaper Amanhã.
In 1963, she went underground with her husband. In July 1964, eight months pregnant, she secretly left Portugal. She settled in Paris and, in December, in Algiers, which she abandoned in May 1966, after the birth of her second daughter. Next, she came to Belgium, where she studied and worked at the Free University of Brussels. During her Belgian exile, she “self-suspended” herself from the PCP, later requesting reinstatement. His final return to Portugal took place in December 1980, after a period in Brazil.
Collection Date: July 3, 2023
