On January 27th and 28th the 1st edition of the Atlantic Conferences, entitled Winston Churchill, Madeira, and the Euro-Atlantic Alliance. Celebrating the 650th Anniversary of the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance, took place in Câmara de Lobos, Madeira.
The event had the High Patronage of the Presidency of the Regional Government of Madeira and counted with the participation of illustrious Guest-Speakers such as the British Ambassador in Lisbon, HE Christopher Sainty, the Rector of the Catholic University of Portugal, Professor Isabel Capeloa Gil, and Professor José Manuel Durão Barroso.
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 of Political Studies of the Universidade Catolica Portuguesa. It 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 are part of the celebration of Winston Churchill's visit to Madeira, with his wife Clementine. During his brief stay on the island, Churchill devoted part of his time to one of his greatest passions: painting. In January 1950, he traveled 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.
In 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 goes 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 freedom among 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 welcome the 650th anniversary of the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance – the oldest alliance still in operation in the world.
Click HERE to access the event’s programme.
See HERE the report about the event in RTP Madeira.
Read HERE the account by Leonel Silva, Deputy Mayor of Câmara de Lobos, about the event.
See HERE the report about the event in Diário de Notícias da Madeira.