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U.Porto Memory

Teachers and students of the first Faculty of Arts of the University of Porto

José Augusto de Sant’Anna Dionísio

	1902-1991 High School Teacher, Pedagogue and Philosopher

José Augusto de Sant’Anna Dionísio was born in Porto on 23 February 1902. He was the son of José de Oliveira Dionísio and Maria Sant’Anna, and studied as a border in private schools in Porto. He completed his primary studies at the Colégio do Campo, and sat the primary school exams at the Cedofeita School in 1914. Later, he attended high school at the Colégio de S. Carlos. In the summer of 1919, he passed the high school exams, in the Humanities field, at the Alexandre Herculano High School, in Porto, with the final mark of 14 out of 20. Following the episode of "Monarquia do Norte" [North Monarchy] at the beginning of the year and the political turmoil that followed, he became a Republican and Jacobin, participating in anti-monarchy youth movements, the ideals of which he defended throughout his life.

In the academic year 1919-1920, he enrolled in the newly created Faculty of Arts of Porto, studying Romance Philology. The degree was completed with the final mark of 14 out of 20 on 13 November 1924, after defending the thesis entitled "Vida e Pensamento de Nietzsche" [Life and Thoughts of Nietzsche].
However, the contact with Leonardo Coimbra and other teachers at the institution awakened his true vocation for philosophical speculation, and he enrolled in the Philosophical Sciences course and collaborated in the press and in the journal "Renascença Portuguesa" [Portuguese Renaissance] writing literary and philosophical articles. On 29 October 1926, he graduated from this second course with the final mark of 16 out of 20 with the thesis "Henri Bergson", a personal reflection on the philosophical thought of the French author.

He was hired as a Contract Teacher of Philosophy at the Martins Sarmento High School, in Guimarães, and maintained his connections with his former university teachers when he was admitted to the Board of the last two editions of the magazine "A Águia". He published an article in 1928 which raised much controversy as he showed that Full Professor Gustavo Cordeiro Ramos, of the Faculty of Arts of Lisbon, had committed plagiarism when he included the unabridged version of lectures from a French university in his PhD dissertation on "Fausto", by Goethe. The contents of the accusations against the man who was to be the Minister of Public Education resulted in the temporary suspension of the magazine and the prohibition of new articles dealing with this issue.

As his mind was set on teaching as Tenured Teacher in public high school institution, he attended the Normal High School of Coimbra and completed his teaching practice at the José Falcão High School. At the end of summer in 1930, in Lisbon, he sat the exams for the 4^th High School Group (History and Philosophy), with the thesis "Didáctica da Filosofia nos Liceus" [Teaching Philosophy in High Schools], the approval of which fell short of his expectations due to the controversial contents of some of his reflections. He was placed at the Funchal High School as a Tenured Teacher, yet this distance did not affect the continuity of his cultural production and political action as he continue to collaborate in the magazine "Seara Nova" and in mainland periodicals, bringing up the issue of educational needs on the islands in the many conferences he gave.

Displeased with the marks he received in the teaching professionalization exams in 1933, he voluntarily returned to the Normal High School in Lisbon for a new teaching practice period, as a scholarship student in his own country, a status granted by the National Education Board. The following year, he once again sat the State exams and was awarded 15 marks out of 20. He was transferred to Vila Real High School as tenured teacher, where he lived between 1935 and 1940. In the summer of 1935, he went to Germany, namely Berlin and Hamburg, on a study visit to collect material for his literary and pedagogic research, which had in part been set aside due to his commitment to compile and disseminate the work of Leonardo Coimbra after his tragic death in early 1936. This task gave rise to a new controversy with António Sérgio, who had publically despised the founder of the 1^st Faculty of Arts of Porto, because of the recognition of originality and relevance of the philosophical thought of the Porto scholar.

In 1938, he focused on the analysis of the ideas of Raul Proença, who by then was extremely ill, bringing his work "Guia de Portugal" to the public eye. By invitation of the New State, they met to complete the work, and worked together until the death of Proença, in May 1941. Sant’Anna Dionísio assumed the editing of the 3^rd volume, and received a four-year scholarship by the Institute for Advanced Culture. In the academic year 1947-1948, he was transferred to D. João de Castro High School, in Lisbon, and soon after to Pedro Nunes High School, where he founded the magazine "Palestra" (1958).

Although he was not so involved with the group "Filosofia Portuguesa" [Portuguese Philosophy], which was formed by some of his former Porto university colleagues, he nevertheless continued to analyse philosophical speculations and to revive the memory of Leonardo Coimbra, through articles in the press and the participation in national and international conferences. From 1956 to 1972 he joined the jury for the annual Philosophy Aptitude Exams required for enrolment in the Faculty of Law of Lisbon.

In 1969, he took full advantage of the scholarship received in Portugal sponsored by Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, so he could complete the 4^th volume of the "Guia de Portugal", to which he dedicated four years of his life. With the announcement of the establishment of the 2^nd Faculty of Arts of Porto, approved by Decree-Law 43 864, of 17 August 1961, he requested that he sit public examinations for the post of Extraordinary Professor in Educational Sciences, but was vehemently contested by former students who did not recognize the teaching correlation between the two university institutions. In mid-1962 he presented the thesis entitled "Pedagogia Culminante dos Gregos" [The Climax Pedagogy of the Greek]. The jury failed his thesis and he was forced to return to high school teaching at the Pedro Nunes High School.

He returned to Porto after he retired in 1972, and continued his scientific and journalistic work, participating actively in cultural bodies such as the Association of Journalists and Men of Arts and integrating the Committee of "Nova Renascença". He died at the age of 89 in Porto on 5 May 1991.
(Universidade Digital / Gestão de Informação, 2008)