Duarte Abecasis

Duarte Monteverde Abecasis (born November 11, 1892 in Lisbon , † April 8, 1966 ) was a Portuguese engineer.

Career

Abecasis studied from 1909 to 1912 at the Escola Politécnica de Lisboa and received his doctorate in civil engineering from the Instituto Superior Técnico in 1919 . From 1918 to 1925 he worked as an assistant on the reconstruction of the port in the Portuguese colony of Macau . In between, he was involved in building the Hidroeléctrica do Alto Alentejo (HEAA) water supply system on behalf of the government .

From 1925 he was the construction director of the commercial port of Lagos and between 1925 and 1927 also acting director of the Hidráulica do Guadiana . From 1933 to 1936 he led the first phase of the modernization of the Barra de Aveiro.

He then embarked on a political and administrative career. From 1936 to 1949 he was Director General for Hydraulic and Electrical Systems in the Ministry of Public Works and from 1940 to 1949 Secretary General of the Ministry. He was then President of the Conselho Superior de Obras Públicas from 1949 to 1962.

His son Nuno (1929–1999) was mayor of Lisbon.

Awards

• 1932: Officer of the Order of St. Jacob of the Sword
• 1947: Grand Officer of the Order of Christ
• 1963: Grand Officer of the Order of the Infante Dom Henrique

Web links

• Short biography (PDF; 127 kB) at the Assembleia da República (Portuguese)