Alberto de Morés Monsaraz (28 February 1889,Lisbon – 23 January 1959) was aPortuguese politician and poet. He was one of the central figures in theIntegralismo Lusitano that dominated thefar-right of Portuguese politics during the early years of the twentieth century.
Born inLisbon, he was the son of the poet António de Macedo Papança, who became the first Conde de Monsaraz in 1910.[1] In 1907 the young Monsaraz began studying law whilst also writing for the right-wing journalPátria Nova. As a result of his involvement inmonarchist politics it would be 1915 before he finally graduated.[1]
Like many young monarchists at the time Monsaraz fell in behindHenrique Mitchell de Paiva Couceiro and took part in his monarchist incursion in 1911. He was exiled toParis for his involvement and fell in with other like-minded individuals in theFrench capital who had also been expelled from Portugal.[1] He was the founder ofIntegralismo Lusitano in 1914 along withJosé Hipólito Raposo,José Adriano Pequito Rebelo andAntónio Sardinha.[2] Independently wealthy due to coming from a leading family, Monsaraz was involved in funding a number of journals associated with the new movement, includingNação Portuguesa,Ideia Nacional andA Monarquista.[1]
Monsaraz took part in Paiva Couceiro's second rebellion of 1919 but was wounded in this conflict and lost a kidney, a fact that impaired his health for the rest of his life.[1] Nonetheless he continued his involvement in Integralism and sat on theJunta Central of the movement.[1] He would become closely associated withLuís de Almeida Braga in their support forDuarte Nuno, Duke of Braganza.[3] The issue of succession proved a divisive one, with different elements within the movement supporting different candidates for the throne, and in 1925 Monsaraz resigned from theJunta Central as part of these problems.[1]
Following his resignation Monsaraz began to read the works ofGeorges Sorel and his discipleGeorges Valois and soon became converted tonational syndicalism as a result.[1] He went on to become a leading figure in theMovimento Nacional-Sindicalista, becoming Secretary-General of the blue-shirted movement in 1933.[1] However Monsaraz was exiled toRepublican Spain along withFrancisco Rolão Preto in 1935 whenAntónio de Oliveira Salazar stepped up his persecution of the National Syndicalists.[4]
Monsaraz initially became even stronger in his national syndicalism and for a brief spell looked toNazism, declaringAdolf Hitler to be his political idol.[1] However this fervour did not last long and by 1936, when he returned to Portugal, Monsaraz had come full circle and was once again advocating Integralism.[1] He remained a strong critic of Salazar, refusing to even mention his name and instead referring to him as "the orator of Sala do Risco", although by this time Monsaraz's political influence had all but ended.[1]
