History

Leonardo Coimbra

The law which instituted the Faculty of Arts of the University of Porto (FLUP) was established by its founder, Leonardo Coimbra, who turned an old claim of the University of Porto into reality. Its history reflects Portuguese political history during the 20th century and can be divided into two phases: from 1919 to 1928 and from 1961 to the present day.

It first occupied the facilities of the Faculty of Sciences, and then moved to Quinta Amarela in Rua Oliveira Monteiro, nº. 833. Later, it was transferred to the facilities in Rua do Breyner, nº. 16, from where it once again moved some of its courses to the former Medical School and to Rua das Taipas.

Faculdade de Ciências

Quinta amarela

Rua do Breyner

Escola Médica

From there, it was transferred to Palacete Burmester and Seminário do Vilar until it was relocated to Rua do Campo Alegre, nº. 1055, where it remained until December 1995. January 1996 marked the definitive move to Via Panorâmica s/n,

Palacete Burmester

Complexo Pedagógico

Faculdade de Letras do Porto

FLUP was instituted by article 11, Law 861, of 27 August 1919, a year in which 167 students graduated in Classical Philology, Romance Philology, German Philology, Historical and Geographical Sciences and Philosophy, until it was formally extinct by Decree 15.365, of 12 April 1928.

The last undergraduate degree exam took place on 29 July 1931. Decree-Law 23.180, of 31 October 1933, determined that the teachers of the extinct faculty had to work as provisional teachers at high schools.

FLUP was restored in 1961 by Decree 43.864, of 17 August.
The faculty resumed its activities in the academic year 1962-1963 with two undergraduate degrees, viz. History and Philosophy, and the Pedagogical Sciences course.

When it reopened in 1961, the faculty was governed by the provisions laid down in the Statute for University Education of 1930 (Decree 18 717, of 2 August) and other regulations.

It was only after the 1974 revolution that the first attempts were made to structure the management systems of higher education establishments with the publication of Decree-Law 806/74, of 31 December, and the Decree-Law of the Council of Revolution 363/75, of 11 July, which laid the foundations of the higher education reform.

Later, Decree Law 781-A/76, of 28 October, came to provide and govern the Democratic Management System of higher education establishments.

Subsequently, the publication of Decree-Law 66/80, of 9 April, provided the legal framework for the operation of scientific-pedagogical units in higher education, according to a department-based organisation.
With the approval of Decree Law 46/86, of 14 October, the foundations of the national education system were set, and later Decree-Law 108/88, of 24 September, established the autonomy of Portuguese universities.
Faculty of Arts The Statutes of the University of Porto were drawn up under the terms of Decree-Law 108/88, of 24 September, guaranteeing the competence of each faculty and institute, as organic units of the University of Porto, to draft their own statutes, define the management structure adopted, organize themselves internally and define the principles that guide their management.

Between 1961 and 2003, FLUP set up other undergraduate degrees: Romance Philology in 1968, German Philology and Geography in 1972, Sociology in 1985 and European Studies in 1996.
Expansion works In 1977, Philologies were replaced with the Modern Languages and Literature course, offering many majors.

In 1980, the History undergraduate degree offered the majors in Archaeology and history of Art.

Later, in 1982, FLUP began to offer post-graduate education, now boasting 27 post-graduate courses in the various scientific fields and awarding a wide variety of diplomas and academic degrees.

Teachers and students of the First Faculty of Arts of the University of Porto (1919-1928)

See biographies index