António de Medeiros e Almeida

António de Medeiros e Almeida (1895–1986), ComC; OB; ComB; GOMAI; GCMAI; OBE; OMC, was a Portuguese businessman, industrialist, collector and benefactor. He created the Medeiros e Almeida Foundation to bequeath his collection of decorative arts to his country.

Youth and marriage

António de Medeiros e Almeida was born on 17 September 1895 in rua do Salitre (no. 405) in Lisbon, Portugal. He was the eldest son of João Silvestre de Almeida (1866–1936) and his wife Maria Amélia Tavares Machado de Medeiros (1870–1952), both from the São Miguel Island in the Azores.

Brought up in a prosperous household, António Medeiros e Almeida attended primary education in the Académica School. He went on to the Central Lyceum of Lapa in Lisbon (which gave rise to the Lyceum Pedro Nunes) and to the Passos Manuel Lyceum.

After high school, in 1914, he enrolled in the Faculty of Medicine of Lisbon. The following year he asked to be transferred to Coimbra, where he would carry out his military service. Towards the end of 1917, after having completed the third year of medicine, his interest in the business world made him give up medicine and travel to Germany for a work experience returning to Lisbon a year later.

On 23 June 1924 he married Margarida Rita de Jesus de Castelbranco Ferreira Pinto Basto (1898 – 1971) and moved to 134, rua do Salitre (the same street where he was born).

Businessman

Automobiles In 1921 Medeiros e Almeida bought, along with a friend, his first car, a Morris Cowley. Passionate about cars, he participated in automobile races, namely in the circuit of Rampa da Pimenteira.

António Medeiros e Almeida decided early on to invest in the import of automobiles, an activity that was still in its beginnings in Portugal. He established contact with the English manufacturer William Morris (1877 - 1963), whom he asked for the consignation of the first cars. Having appreciated the young entrepreneur's pledge of his word as a guarantee, Lord Nuffield gave him a vote of confidence and he became, from 1923 onwards, the importer of Morris, Mg, Wolseley e Riley for Portugal, opening a stand - A.M. Almeida Lda. - in rua da Escola Politécnica 39-39A, in Lisbon to sell the cars. In 1926 he became the Morris exclusive importer for Portugal.

Initially, the business did not go exactly as the businessman had hoped. English cars did not drive well on Portugal's cobblestone roads. An alteration in the cars’ suspension in 1932, with the arrival of the Morris Ten model, led sales to soar and the business to prosper.

To provide after-sales assistance, he opened a Morris service station at Conde Barão garage and a parts and accessories store in the nearby area.

In 1955, A.M. Almeida was dissolved having been replaced by another firm with the same name, extended, now to other partners and intending to import other car brands beyond the Morris group. In this new company, António Medeiros e Almeida was no longer the figurehead, remaining, however, linked to this business: “…in 1955 I sold my fraction in the firm A.M. Almeida created by me, and I can say that the automobile business was the indicator and promoter of what is today the Medeiros e Almeida Foundation.”thumb Later, in 1962, he was one of those responsible for the creation of the Citroën car factory, in Mangualde, of which he became chairman of the board of directors.

António Medeiros e Almeida House MuseumHaving had no children, and aware that his art collection had reached a level of significant importance, from the mid-60s onward, the Medeiros e Almeida couple entertained the idea of creating a museum to guarantee the preservation of his collection. To this end, he decided to make his collection and home available to the public. In 1968 Medeiros e Almeida commissioning the architect Alberto Cruz to expand his house over the garden and adapt the building so that it could become a museum.

The resulting museum displays a total of 27 rooms set out across two distinct areas: the “old wing” that was inhabited by the couple and left exactly as it was and the “new wing” containing themed rooms in which grand European interiors have been recreated.

The work of the house museum was to be completed in 1973 by the architects Frederico George (1915-1994) and José Sommer Ribeiro (1924-2006), the latter also taking charge of the museography project. When Medeiros e Almeida died in 1986, the installation of the Casa-Museum was completed.

To guarantee the accomplishment of his will, Medeiros e Almeida created a foundation. The bylaws were published in August 1972 and legalized in a public deed on 21 February 1973. The Foundation gives its name and donates all its movable and immovable assets.

Pragmatic and aware that, in the absence of financial means, its intentions could be compromised in the future, Medeiros e Almeida left in his will the guidelines for the Medeiros e Almeida Foundation to survive with its funds. To this end, he arranged for all companies to be sold and a rental property to be built on land adjacent to his house (drawer on rua Mouzinho da Silveira and rua Barata Salgueiro), previously acquired. The building was completed in 1992, and its lease constitutes the means of financing for the institution's operations.

The Casa-Museum opened to the public on 1 June 2001.