Antone Felix papers

Antone Felix (1927-2010) was born to Antonio Felix and Maria de Lourdes Macedo in New Bedford, both of his parents were of Azorean descent.

He was a graduate of New Bedford High School, received a B.S. degree from Boston University, and two master’s degress, an M. Ed. From Bridgewater State College and an M.A. from New York University. In addition, he completed course work at Harvard University, Universidade do Rio Grande do Sul, (Porto Alegre, Brasil,) and Universidade de Lisboa.

He began his career as a teacher at New Bedford High School, where he taught Portuguese. He then went on to become a Professor of Portuguese at SMU, where he received the title Professor Emeritus upon his retirement in 1992. While teaching at SMU, he also served as principal of De Valles Evening School for a five year period.

While on the Board of Trustees of SMU, he chaired a sub-committee to draft a proposal for a Portuguese Learning Center which was accepted in the Spring of 1973, resulting in the Center for the Portuguese Speaking World (CPSW), and subsequently served as its director for several years. The CPSW would become one of the precursors to the existing Centre for Portuguese Studies and Culture.

Due to his professional knowledge, and experiences in traveling to Angola and Mozambique (at the invitation of the Portuguese Embassy in Washington), many local Portuguese cultural organizations called upon him to give talks and slide presentations on Camões or lusophone Africa.

Some of his contributons to SMU include obtaining the first Leitor from Instituto de Alta Cultura; organizing the First Portuguese lecture given by Dr. J. M. dos Santos, Director do Museo de Arte Antiga in Lisbon; beginning the Summer Study in Portugal Program for students; and obtaining manys books, magazines, and newspapers for the library from Portuguese government agencies.

He conducted research on the Military Orders of Santiago and Avis and wrote book reviews on Portuguese publications and several articles on the study of Portuguese and was condecorated by the Portuguese government with the Ordem de Merito.

He served two years in the U.S. Army at the General Headquarters in Tokyo. Antone, a faithful son, supportive uncle, and devoted brother, enjoyed going to Portuguese restaurants, traveling to the Azores and Lisbon to visit family and relatives, and spending time with his family and friends.