Manuel Teixeira Gomes, seventh president of the First Portuguese Republic (from October 6, 1923 to December 11, 1925), died on October 18, 1941, in Bougie, Algeria.
Born in Portimão, Manuel Teixeira Gomes was the son of José Libânio Gomes, a wealthy landowner, exporter of dried fruits and consul of Belgium in the Algarve, and Maria da Glória Teixeira Gomes.
After completing his military service, Teixeira Gomes settled in Porto in 1881. That year he attended the Porto Polytechnic Academy (1831-1832), interacting with intellectuals and artists such as Soares dos Reis, Marques de Oliveira and Basílio Teles. He collaborated in several periodical publications in the city, such as “O Primeiro de Janeiro” and “Folha Nova”.
Teixeira Gomes was an important cultural person. When he was elected President of the Republic, he already had published literary works and a diplomatic career that had helped to give credibility and consolidate the republican regime in London, Portugal’s main ally at the time.
Art collector, talented diplomat, tireless traveler, passionate visitor to museums and galleries, Teixeira Gomes bequeathed his private art collection to several national museums, including the Soares dos Reis National Museum. Here you can see the portrait of Manuel Teixeira Gomes, by Marques de Oliveira, in a painting dated 1881 (in the photo).
In 2010, the Soares dos Reis National Museum hosted the exhibition “Manuel Teixeira Gomes – The years in Porto”, promoted on the occasion of the Centenary of the Establishment of the Republic. An initiative of the Institute of Museums and Conservation, in partnership with the National Commission for the Celebrations of the Centenary of the Republic.