André Penafiel, British Academy Post-Doctoral Fellow in Portuguese, was decorated with the Order of Camões by His Excellency Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, President of the Portuguese Republic, on 6th June. André is the youngest of six scholars to join the Order, receiving the title of Comendador, as the Lusophone world celebrates 500 years of Camões’s birth.
The Order distinguishes those who have performed significant services, of international standing, to Portuguese language and culture. The President thanked all six academics for their efforts and reminded those present that the Order has been awarded only in a few rare occasions, thus being the most select of the Portuguese chivalric orders.
André was a British Academy Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Portuguese Sub-Faculty. For the past years, he has travelled widely, researching early-modern printed copies of Camões’s masterpiece Os Lusíadas, the Portuguese national poem.
The new Comendador feels immensely honoured and regards the distinction as the fruit of his personal academic research, the British Academy funding, and the active support of our Faculty. He thanks all those, in Oxford and overseas, who have lent their support over the years.
