The Branches of Large Electricity Companies in Portugal: From Trade to the Transfer and Adaptation of Technology (20th Century)

In the last decade of the 19th and first decades of the 20th century there was a movement of capital and engineers from the central and northern Europe to the countries of southern Europe and other continents. Large companies sought to obtain concessions and establish branches in Portugal, favouring the circulation of technical knowledge and transfer of technology for Portuguese industry. Among the various examples of the representatives of foreign companies in Portugal we find Jayme da Costa Ltd. established in 1916 in Lisbon, which was a branch of the Swedish company ASEA, as well as STAAL, ATLAS DIESEL (Sweden), Landis & GYR (Switzerland), Electro Helios, etc.. Another example is EFACEC a company founded in 1948 in Porto, that was a partnership between the Portuguese company CUF – Companhia União Fabril, and ACEC – Ateliers de Constructions Électriques de Charleroi and a small entreprise Electro-Moderna Ldª. This enterprise started the industrial production of electric motors and transformers, and later on acquired a substantial share of the national production of electrical equipment. Using Estatística das Instalações Elétricas em Portugal (Statistics on Electrical Installations in Portugal) from 1928 until 1950 we can identify the foreign enterprises acting in the Portuguese market: Siemens, B.B.C, ASEA, Oerlikon, etc. We can also establish a relationship between the development of the electric network and the growth of production and consumption of electricity in the principal urban centres. Finally we see how foreign firms were a stimulus to the creation of national enterprises, especially those of small scale, in Portugal.

Irmandade de Santa Cecília - Implementação local na segunda metade do século XVIII: Évora e Porto.

Abstract: Professional brotherhoods were a fundamental structure of social organization during the Ancien Regime in Portugal. The traditional guild of musicians - Brotherhood of St. Cecilia - was a case of particular relevance to the musical context over a long period of time and was confirmed as a dominant institution, especially in Lisbon. This study establishes a confrontation across the Statutes of the Brotherhood under the Documents (Compromissos) known since 1749, in order to know (a) changes made by the end of the eighteenth century; (b) local specificities in Évora (1780) and Oporto (1784) according to the model of Lisbon (1749 and 1766); (c) connections to specific musical contexts. Resumo: As irmandades profissionais constituiram-se como uma estrutura fundamental de organização social durante o Antigo Regime em Portugal. No caso dos músicos a Irmandade de Santa Cecília afirmou-se como um caso de particular relevância para o estudo do sistema de organização e valorização de atividade confirmando-se como uma instituição dominante, sobretudo em Lisboa. Neste estudo estabelece-se um confronto entre os Estatutos da Irmandade segundo os Compromissos conhecidos desde 1749, no sentido de conhecer (a) alterações introduzidas até finais do século XVIII; (b) especificidades locais em Évora (1780) e Porto (1784) de acordo com o modelo de Lisboa (1749 e 1766); (c) relação com contextos musicais específicos.