Veiga Pestana (Second Lieutenant João Paulo da)
Original title: Veiga Pestana (Alferes João Paulo da)
Biography of João Paulo da Veiga Pestana (1895–1918), a Funchal-born infantry second lieutenant killed at the Battle of the Lys in the First World War. The Funchal council renamed the old Rua das Hortas in his honour.
He was the son of João Pestana Santos and Dona Carlota Amália Drumond da Veiga Pestana, and was born in Funchal on 25 December 1895. Having completed his preparatory studies at the lyceum (state secondary school) of this city in 1913, he enrolled in the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Coimbra (Universidade de Coimbra) to study civil engineering. However, when he was called up for the army in 1916, after Portugal entered the Great War, he was at once summoned to the school for militia officers on account of his scientific qualifications. He was posted as an officer cadet to the 30th Infantry Regiment (infantaria 30) on 1 May 1917 and commissioned second lieutenant on 5 September of the same year. Mobilised to serve with the Portuguese Expeditionary Corps (C. E. P.) in France, he left for that country on 11 September of the same year. There he met a glorious death at the Battle of the Lys on 9 April 1918, after spending seven months in the trenches and giving countless proofs of his military spirit and valour there. The Portuguese press wrote at length about the ill-fated officer João Paulo da Veiga Pestana, and the Ilustração Portuguesa published his portrait together with some biographical details.
At its session of 10 April 1919, the Funchal Municipal Council (Câmara Municipal do Funchal) gave the name of Second Lieutenant Veiga Pestana to the old Rua das Hortas, this being ‘a simple but well-deserved tribute to the young officer who, when urged to flee as the danger drew nearest, replied, his eyes fixed on the Fatherland: Let whoever wishes flee; I stay to do my duty’.
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 06-
João Paulo da Veiga Pestana was born in Funchal.
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João Paulo da Veiga Pestana completed preparatory studies at the Funchal lyceum.
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João Paulo da Veiga Pestana was called up after Portugal entered the Great War.
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João Paulo da Veiga Pestana was posted as officer cadet to Infantry Regiment 30.
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João Paulo da Veiga Pestana was promoted to second lieutenant.
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João Paulo da Veiga Pestana left for France with the Portuguese Expeditionary Corps.
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Battle of the Lys, in which many Madeirans were killed or captured.
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Funchal council renamed Rua das Hortas as Rua do Alferes Veiga Pestana.
Place
Places mentioned · 05
Abroad
- Coimbra
Portugal. University city where he enrolled to study civil engineering.
Portuguese mainland university city where many Madeirans studied law or medicine, and where Padre Luís Gonçalves da Câmara taught and was rector of the Jesuit college. It hosted the 1921 academic table-tennis championship, and its dormancy and rainfall data are compared with Funchal's.
- France
Country where he served in the trenches and died.
France is a country where several Madeirans fought and died in the First World War, including Gabriel Rocha de Gouveia and João Paulo da Veiga Pestana. It was also a place of study, of exile and of refuge for Madeirans. It was the origin of the expedition behind the Saque dos Franceses and the intended destination of the fugitives in the Machim legend.
- Funchal
Birthplace of Veiga Pestana, where he attended the lyceum.
The capital of the archipelago and seat of the principal captaincy, where settlement began; it was made a vila c.1451–52. Its bay, the widest in the archipelago, lies between Ponta do Garajau and Ponta da Cruz and offers sheltered anchorage, though its harbour had never been studied oceanographically. The Elucidário discusses it as a health resort with climate data and records the January 1906 disturbances, the Danish prince's visit in May 1846 and recent volcanic cones in the area.
- Lys
France. Site of the 1918 battle in which he was killed.
Site of the 1918 battle in which he was killed.
- Rua Alferes Veiga Pestana
Funchal. Former Rua das Hortas in Funchal, renamed after him in 1919.
Rua Alferes Veiga Pestana is a Funchal street, formerly the Rua das Hortas, renamed in 1919 after Alferes João Paulo da Veiga Pestana. It was a boundary street disputed between the parishes of Sé and Santa Luzia.
People
People mentioned · 03- João Paulo da Veiga Pestana1895–1918
Funchal-born second lieutenant of the Portuguese Expeditionary Corps killed at the Battle of the Lys in 1918; subject of this entry.
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Mother of Alferes João Paulo da Veiga Pestana.
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Father of Alferes João Paulo da Veiga Pestana.