JUNE 10th - DAY OF PORTUGAL

10 de JUNHO - DIA DE PORTUGAL

Portugal Day (Portuguese: Dia de Portugal), officially Dia de Camões, de Portugal e das Comunidades Portuguesas ("Day of Camões, Portugal, and the Portuguese Communities"), marks the date of Luís de Camões' death on June 10, 1580, and is Portugal's National Day. Camões wrote Os Lusíadas, Portugal's national epic poem celebrating Portuguese history and achievements. Although it is only officially celebrated in Portugal, Portuguese citizens and also Portuguese immigrants throughout the world celebrate this holiday.
The poem mainly focuses on the 16th century Portuguese explorations, which brought fame and fortune to Portugal. Camões' poem, considered one of the finest and most important works in Portuguese literature, became a symbol for the great feats of the Portuguese nation.
Camões was an adventurer, lost one eye fighting in Ceuta, wrote the Portuguese epic poem Os Lusíadas while traveling, and survived a shipwreck in Cochinchina (present-day Vietnam). According to popular folklore, Camões saved his epic poem by swimming with one arm while keeping the other arm above water.
Although Camões became a symbol for Portugal nationalism, in the year of his death the Spanish king Philip II, known also as Philip I of Portugal, sat on the Portuguese throne. Because Philip was the only heir at the time, Portugal was then ruled by three generations of Spanish kings. Sixty years later, on December 1, 1640, the country regained its independence once again by expelling the Spanish and making John of Bragança, King John IV of Portugal. Spanish kings tried many times to re-establish power over the Portuguese but failed. Since then, because Camões' date of birth is unknown, the date of his death is celebrated as Portugal's national day.
During the authoritarian Estado Novo regime in the 20th century, Camões was used as a symbol for the Portuguese nation. In 1944, at the dedication ceremony of the National Stadium, António de Oliveira Salazar referred to 10 June as Dia da Raça - the Day of the Portuguese Race. The notion of a Portuguese "race" served his nationalist purposes.^[1] Because of that, the June 10th celebrations were officially suspended during the Carnation Revolution in 1974. After 1974, the 10th of June celebrations resumed to include celebrating the Portuguese emigrants living all around the world (Comunidades Portuguesas, Portuguese communities).  (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

A motion from Olivia Chow to declare June 10 as Canada-Portugal Day was approved unanimously by the House of Commons today, just in time for Portugal Day celebrations.

“I am very pleased that Canada is recognizing the richness that Portuguese Canadians add to our cultural fabric,” said Chow. “With the declaration of June 10 as Canada-Portugal Day, Parliament has expressed gratitude for the contribution of the Luso-Canadian community to Canada.”
With the support of the Canada-Portugal Parliamentary Friendship Group, the motion earned unanimous consent. It reads:
That, in the opinion of the House, throughout Canada in each and every year, June 10 shall be known as Canada-Portugal day in celebration of the friendship between Portugal and Canada and in recognition of the history of the Luso-Canadian community and its contribution to Canadian society.
Portuguese Canadians have a long history in Canada, dating back to the sixteenth century off the coast of Newfoundland. Today, almost half a million people of Portuguese descent call Canada home.

TO COMEMORATE MY HERITAGE, IN THE NEXT DAYS I WILL BE RE-PRINTING A FEW ARTICLES ABOUT PORTUGAL, FROM ORIGINS TO THE PRESENT PRESENCE IN THE WORLD

To Be Continue...