Portuguese computer scientist Manuela Veloso and former Cape Verdean President Pedro Pires received honorary doctorates from ISCTE in Lisbon on Thursday December 14 at a ceremony attended by the Cape Verdean Head of state.
Honorary doctorates from ISCTE—Instituto Universitário de Lisboa—was awarded at a ceremony marking the institution’s 51st anniversary, which was attended by José Maria Neves, who is visiting Portugal.
The event marks the 50th anniversary of April 25 and the importance of the establishment of democratic rule for science in Portugal as well as for the development processes of Portuguese-speaking African countries. “It is the democratic regime that has allowed the development of science in Portugal and the creation of a scientific community in our country. It was also the 25 April Revolution that allowed decolonization and, with it, the development of higher education in Portuguese-speaking African countries,” said the University’s Rector, Maria de Lurdes Rodrigues, in a statement.
Pedro Pires was presented by Rui Pena Pires, full professor of sociology and researcher in the area of migration, and Manuela Veloso by Jorge Costa, full professor of engineering and ISCTE’s vice-rector for research and technological modernization.
Pedro Pires was born in 1934 on the island of Fogo, in Cape Verde, and studied at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon. At a young age, he joined the liberation movements in the then-Portuguese overseas provinces and was a leader of the PAIGC.
Prime Minister of Cape Verde from 1975 to 1991, he played an important role in the transition to multi-party rule and the affirmation of democracy in Cape Verde. After his party lost the elections in 1991, he ensured the first peaceful transition of power in his country, respecting the election results. He was later President of the Republic of Cape Verde, a post to which he was elected in 2001 and re-elected in 2006, the statement said.