Winston Churchill, Madeira, and the Euro-Atlantic Alliance. Celebrating the 650th Anniversary of the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance
More information: secretariado.iep@ucp.pt
The Atlantic Conferences are a joint initiative of the Presidency of the Regional Government of Madeira, the City Council of Câmara de Lobos and the Institute for Political Studies of the Universidade Catolica Portuguesa. The first edition of the Atlantic Conferences will take place on the 27th and 28th of January 2023, at the Madeira Press Museum, in the municipality of Câmara de Lobos.
The Atlantic Conferences celebrate Winston Churchill's visit to Madeira, with his wife Clementine, in January 1950. During his brief stay on the island, Churchill devoted part of his time to one of his greatest passions: painting. He travelled to Câmara de Lobos, seven kilometers west of Funchal, in a Leacock family Rolls Royce. In a corner, at the entrance to the village, he set up his easel and canvas, sat down and painted the bay and the islet. Photographer Raul Perestrelo immortalized the moment and, currently, the place is designated as Miradouro Winston Churchill.
By celebrating Churchill's visit to Madeira, the Atlantic Conferences aim to revisit the meaning of his commitment to the Western and European tradition of freedom under the law, which dates back to Athens, Rome and Jerusalem; it is also its purpose to revisit – hoping to better understand – the decisive role that Churchill attributed to the Atlantic Alliance and the maritime tradition of liberty among the English-speaking peoples in the defense of the West.
By a happy coincidence, in this first edition of the Atlantic Conferences, it will be a pleasure to include also the celebration of the 650th anniversary of the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance – the oldest alliance in the world. The Conference has the pleasure and privilege of having the support of the International Churchill Society, the Portugal-UK 650, the British Historical Society of Portugal, and the Oxford Society of Portugal.