José Augusto Martins
Biography
José Augusto da Silva Martins was born on August 18, 1949, at the Alfredo da Costa Maternity Hospital during the imprisonment of his father and mother, who ran a clandestine printing press for the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP). He spent the first two years of his life in Caxias Prison. His father, José Augusto da Silva Martins, was arrested in 1949 and died in 1958. His mother, Casimira da Conceição Silva, was arrested in 1949, while pregnant with José Augusto, and in 1956.
He also had an uncle, Júlio Martins, an aunt, Armanda Forjaz de Lacerda, and a sister, Ivone Dias Lourenço, who were also imprisoned. Politically active since the age of 13, he joined the PCP, joining the chapter at the Pedro Nunes High School and the Pro-Association of High Schools Committee. He was arrested at just 15 years old in the early hours of January 21, 1965, following a complaint from a student leader who had begun collaborating with the PIDE (Instituto Nacional de Detectives) and who would later lead dozens of students to prison. After being brought before the judge of the Juvenile Court, he was placed for three months in the Observation Center of the Juvenile Court of Lisbon, formerly the Child Guardianship Office, a situation that sparked an Amnesty International campaign for his release.
He left the PCP (Public Party of Portugal) and joined the Popular Action Front (FAP). In the summer of 1966, he clandestinely left the country for France, where he completed his secondary and university studies. He left the FAP and joined “The Communist,” also collaborating with the French organization Gauche Prolétarienne. He experienced the events of May 1968 firsthand. He received support from the Comité Inter-Mouvements Auprès Des Évacués (CIMADE) in obtaining a scholarship and political refugee status in France. He returned to Portugal on April 25, 1974.
