Margarida Tengarrinha
Biography
Maria Margarida do Carmo Mendes Tengarrinha Campos Costa was born in Portimão on May 7, 1928. At the age of 20, she joined the Democratic Unity Movement (MUD) Youth. She became involved in student protests at the Lisbon School of Fine Arts (ESBAL) and participated in the General Exhibitions of Visual Arts. Following protests against the NATO meeting held in Lisbon in 1952, she was expelled from ESBAL and banned from attending any university in the country or from teaching. Between 1952 and 1954, she served on the National Commission for Support of Political Prisoners. He joined the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) in 1952. In late 1954, he went underground with his comrade, José Dias Coelho, who would be assassinated by the PIDE in 1961. While in hiding, he worked forging documents, temporarily putting aside his artistic activities, and worked on the editorial staff of Avante!.
In 1962, he went abroad. He worked with Álvaro Cunhal and, later, at Rádio Portugal Livre in Bucharest. Before and after returning to Portugal in 1968, he continued to collaborate with Avante!. He also worked for the newspaper A Terra, for the Peasant Labor organizations of the Northern and Lisbon Organizations, and for the Northern Regional Directorate. In 1974, he became a member of the PCP Central Committee and, in 1975, joined the Lisbon Regional Directorate. She was a member of the Assembly of the Republic and published several books, including Memoirs of a Forger – the Clandestine Struggle in Portugal.
Date of Collection: 08.03.2017
Keywords: Comunist Party, Manifestations, Juvenile MUD, Students, José Dias Coelho, Clandestinity, Counterfeiting Apparatus, Clandestine Press.
