Fernando de Quintanilha e Mendonça Dias

Fernando de Quintanilha e Mendonça Dias GCC • TO • ComA • GOA • GCA • MPBS • MOBS • GOI • GOIH • ECMM (Chaves, November 15, 1898 - Lisbon, São Vicente de Fora, June 9, 1992) was a militaryman from the Portuguese Navy, political and colonial administrator during the Estado Novo which, among other functions, included a role as Minister of the Navy from 1958 to 1968. As Navy Minister was instrumental in the creation of the Hydrographic Institute.'''

In 1947, following the independence of the Indian Union, he played an important role in the defense of Goa against the economic blockade that was imposed by leaders of neighboring Indian states. He also was General Governor of the Portuguese 'State of India' (Estado da Índia) from 1948 to 1952.

Family
Born in Chaves, at the parish of Santa Maria Maior, on 15 November 1898, he died in Lisbon, in the parish of São Vicente de Fora, on 6 September 1992, and was buried in the Field of Combatants (Talhão dos Combatentes) in the Cemitério (Cemetery) do Alto de São João.

He was the son of Jose Antonio Dias, a businessman and landlord in Chaves, and his wife Ermelinda Júlia Lopes da Silva de Quintanilha e Mendonça, daughter of Pascal Lino Quintanilha e Mendonça, finance inspector, and his wife Joan Valézia Lopes da Silva; and paternal granddaughter of Francisco José de Quintanilha e Mendonça, administrator of the former municipalities of Alhambra, Alverca do Ribatejo, and Moita, and his wife Maria José Adelaide Moura.

He married twice, the first in Chaves, on 3 July 1923, to Irene da Encarnação de Morais Pereira, the daughter of José Afonso Pereira, Major of the Infantry in charge of the government of Congo in 1917 and Governor of Moxico in 1919, etc. and his wife Carmelina da Glória de Morais, of Chaves.

His second marriage was in Lisbon on 12 March 1932, with the sister of his first wife, Carmelina da Glória de Morais Pereira.

Two of his daughters married in Goa, in the chapel of the Palácio do Cabo (the governor's residence), during his tenure: Irene Maria, daughter from his first marriage, married in March 1950 to Fernando Simões Coelho da Fonseca (1926-2006), later Vice-Admiral and President the Geographical Society of Lisbon 1975-1978. Fernanda Maria, a daughter from his second marriage, married in March 1951 with Joaquim Arrais do Lago Torres de Magalhães (1922- ), later Brigadier General and commander of the Artillery School in 1974.

He was a relative of Capitão-de-Mar-e-Guerra Veríssimo José de Quintanilha e Mendonça (1843-1917), knight of the Royal Household, the fifth and final Lord of Morgadio do Sardoal, senior official of the Ministry of Marine and founding partner of the Porrtuguese Naval Military Club, and younger brother of Raimundo José de Quintanilha e Mendonça (1850-1935), General of the Division and Director of Public Works in India, Macau and Timor.

Professional career
Quintanilha e Mendonça Dias enlisted in 1916. He was promoted to second lieutenant (Segundo-Tenente) in 1920, first lieutenant (Primeiro-Tenente) in 1924, Captain-Lieutenant (Capitão-Tenente) in 1935, Captain-de-Fragata in 1940, the Capitão-de-Mar-e-Guerra in 1946 and  Commodore in 1953. He was promoted to Rear Admiral (equivalent to the current rank of Vice Admiral, which was only introduced in 1977) in 1958.

In 1921 he embarked as the ship's chief of the Portuguese Navy battleship Vasco da Gama. In 1922 he was in charge of the navigation cruiser NRP República (of the Carvalho Araújo class) during the first air crossing of the South Atlantic by Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro. He was commander of the NRP Pedro Nunes in 1941, and  NRP Bartolomeu Dias in 1952, having among other missions represented the Navy Portuguese in the ceremonies of the coronation of HM Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom in June 1953.

He was also the Deputy Chief of Navy Staff in the years 1953-1955 and Deputy Chief of the Armed Forces General Staff in 1957-1958. Between 1954 and 1958 he also taught at the Naval School of War.

Political and Administrative Career
Quintanilha e Mendonça Dias was appointed captain of the port of Chinde, Mozambique, being also responsible for hydrographic survey of its bar and harbour. From 1925 he was Intendant of the Government of Chinde, having also played the Captain's functions of Cabo Delgado and Port Quelimane (1935). He was the Governor of Niassa in 1935, and in charge of the Zambezia Government in 1937.

In 1940, he was Chief of Staff of the Naval Force exercises and the Naval Force of the Metropolis; in 1941-1943 he was in the maritime defense of Lisbon, and was still acting Deputy Chief of Staff, and liaison officer with the Ministry of War.

Governor of India
Later, in Portuguese India, Quintanilha e Mendonça Dias was Chief of India's State Marine Services in 1944, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Autonomous of Portuguese India Navigation Services also in 1944, Member of the State Government of the Council of India, then Vice-President of this Council in 1946.

On August 15, 1947 British India became independent, which made it difficult to predict the future difficulties for the (Portuguese) Estado da Índia. Three days earlier, Quintanilha e Mendonça Dias was placed in charge of the government of Portuguese India in an interim regime, a position that he would occupy until the end of June of the following year.

The office of Governor-General was first offered to Gabriel Teixeira, then Governor-General of Mozambique, a man with extensive experience in the East, having been Governor of Macau from 1940 to 1946. When Teixeira declined the offer, Quintanilha e Mendonça Dias, " [...] an official with colonial experience, able, hardworking, resourceful and skillfully [...]" in the words of the Minister of Colonies to Salazar, was appointed Governor General of the State of India in 1948.

Also in 1947, following the independence of the Indian Union, the acting governor had an important role to play over the defense of Goa against the economic blockade that was imposed by leaders of neighboring Indian states. The role he played in attempts to overcome the nationalist movement in Goa has been debated; some claim that he only reaped fromt he efforts of the previous Governor General.

Soon after its Independence, the Indian Union wanted to start negotiations with Portugal on the fate of the Portuguese Estado da Índia. One of the most contentious issues was the old right of the Padroado Português—which allowed the Portuguese to appoint bishops to suffragan dioceses in what was now independent India. In 1948, the English prelate of Bombay insisted on resigning. Under the 1928 agreement between Britain, Portugal and the Holy See, this post alternated between a Portuguese prelate and an English one. Hence, this Sé should have appointed a Portuguese prelate—something that already independent India was unwilling to tolerate. The Padroado crisis that followed, from 1948-1953, went along with the government of Quintanilha e Mendonça Dias. As a result, the Governor-General excluded the Archbishop Patriarch José da Costa Nunes, Patriarch of the Indies—who had celebrated the weddings of both his daughters in 1950 and 1951—from the Council of the State of India (Conselho do Governo do Estado da Índia), officially. This was done because the Indian Union accused the Portuguese Padroado of being a political instrument of the regime in Lisbon. The protests of the Patriarch of the Indies to Salazar over this maneuver proved fruitless.

Governor General Quintanilha e Mendonça Dias had a difficult relationship with the Infantry Major Carlos Alves Roçadas, chief of the Armed Forces of the Estado da Índia. The solution found by the Minister of Colonies was to appoint Alves Roçadas as the Governor of another Portuguese-ruled territory, Cape Verde, in 1950.

The then Capitão-de-Mar-e-Guerra collated while in India a collection of over three hundred old books on Portuguese India and the Portuguese in the East. This collection was acquired after his death from the University of Chicago Library of the University of Chicago, and is now a part of the Southern Asian Collection of the Regenstein Library.

Minister of Marine
Back to the metropolis, the Captain-of-Sea-and-War (Capitão-de-Mar-e-Guerra) Quintanilha e Mendonça Dias was the Attorney of the Corporate Board by appointment of the Corporate Council and Advisory Council of the Presidency between 1953 and 1958. During that period he was also Professor at the Superior Course of the Higher Naval Institute of War and also Acting Director of the Institute.

In 1958, Admiral Américo Tomás, Minister of the Navy since 1944, was the candidate of the  União Nacional  to replace the General Craveiro Lopes as presidential candidate in the  elections of that year, against General Humberto Delgado. One of the candidates to succeed Tomás in the Navy was Henrique Tenreiro, the "Fisheries Boss", who has long insisted on the creation of a ministry or secretary of State for Fisheries. However Salazar preferred "[...] a man whose political profile walked close to the Tenreiro, while less controversial and most prestigious within the Navy, considering the merits of his naval career and important places that occupied the colonial administration [...] ". Fernando Quintanilha e Mendonça Dias was thus named Minister of the Navy in 1958.

As Minister of the Navy, he supported the Estado Novo regime during the "Abrilada de 1961" or Botelho Moniz Coup.

That same year, 1961, saw the beginning of overseas conflicts. According to NATO's naval strategy, of which Portugal was a founding member in 1949, the role of the Portuguese Navy in the 1950s was essentially to contain the submarine threat of the Soviet Union in the North Atlantic. With the outbreak of conflicts overseas, the Navy's attention turned from "blue waters" from the Atlantic to the "brown waters" of the African coast. The war and the coastal geography and climate of Africa demanded other types of vessels and equipment, compared to those which the navy had at the time.

To meet the new requirements, Admiral Quintanilha e Mendonça Dias soon embarked on an ambitious program of modernization of the Portuguese Navy. The French ambassador in Lisbon, Bernard de Menthon, would report to the Quai d'Orsay that the Minister of the Navy "[...] sought to see the President of the Council of the need to start the restructuring program as soon as possible [.. .]. "In the years 1961-1974 the Portuguese Navy saw the old ships of World War II replaced by 65 new units, since, among other classes, monitoring boats (Class Bellatrix and Class Argos (1963)), patrol vessels (class Cacine), corvettes (John Coutinho class) frigates (João Belo class and class Admiral Pereira da Silva) and also four new submarines (Albacora class).

Most of these ships was built in Brazilian shipyards. Only the lack of capacity and delivery of emergency forced some to be built in foreign shipyards, particularly in Spain, France and Germany; in the ten years in which Quintanilha e Mendonça Dias occupied the Navy portfolio, the latter two countries, France and Germany, replaced the traditional ally of Portugal -- England—as political allies and arms suppliers. Of all the new ships, the Class John Coutinho, designed by naval engineer and Rear Admiral Roger d'Oliveira, gained international projection thanks to the quality of the project.

Fernando de Quintanilha e Mendonça Dias also played a decisive role in creating the Hydrographic Institute in 1960. He was Minister of the Navy until 1968. In the exercise of this office, he was one of the signatories of the new Portuguese Civil Code of 1966.

He was also the acting Minister of Overseas in 1959, and Member of the Empire Bar Council until 1969.

Main office held
Ministro da Marinha  (15.VIII.1958-19.VIII.1968). Minister of Marine

Governador-Geral of the Estado Português da Índia (23.XII.1948-11.X.1952). Governor General of Portuguese India.

Subchefe do Estado-Maior daArmada (12.VII.1957-14.VIII.1958) e Subchefe do Estado-Maior Naval (8.VII.1953-22.XI.1955). Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Navy

Director Interino do Instituto Superior Naval de Guerra (27.VII.1954-13.VII.1955). Acting Director of Naval Institute of War

Professor do Curso Superior do Instituto Superior Naval de Guerra (1954-1958). Professor.

Procurador à Câmara Corporativa (VI e VII Legislaturas)(1953-1958) e Assessor do Conselho da Presidência. Attorney to Corporate Board (VI and VII Legislatures) (from 1953 to 1958) and Advisor to the Council of Presidency.

Decorations
Among others, Vice Admiral ernando de Quintanilha e Mendonça Dias was awarded the following decorations and Portuguese Orders:
 * Flag of Portugal.svg Oficial da Ordem Militar de Avis de Portugal (21 de Dezembro de 1929)
 * Flag of Portugal.svg Comendador da Ordem Militar de Avis de Portugal (28 de Agosto de 1941)
 * Flag of Portugal.svg Grande-Oficial da Ordem Militar de Avis de Portugal (22 de Março de 1943)
 * Flag of Portugal.svg Grande-Oficial da Ordem do Império de Portugal (15 de Abril de 1952)
 * Flag of Portugal.svg Grã-Cruz da Ordem do Infante D. Henrique de Portugal (3 de Janeiro de 1961)
 * Flag of Portugal.svg Grã-Cruz da Ordem Militar de Cristo de Portugal (2 de Setembro de 1961)
 * Flag of Portugal.svg Grã-Cruz da Ordem Militar de Avis de Portugal (16 de Setembro de 1968)

Honours from overseas:
 * Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Medalha da Coroação da Rainha Isabel II da Grã-Bretanha e Irlanda do Norte (24 de Junho de 1953)
 * Flag of Brazil.svg Medalha de Mérito Naval de Serviços Distintos do Brasil (7 de Setembro de 1957)

His name was given to two streets in Chinde, and a residential district in Daman, which are respectively known as "Comandante Quintanilha," "Almirante Quintanilha Dias" and "Comandante Quintanilha". He was named a Honorary Citizen of the Municipality of Goa, the village Chinde, and the city of New Orleans, USA, and an honorary member and his name was given to a room of the Institute Vasco da Gama, a member of honor of the Instituto de Estudos e Investigações de Ávila "Gran Duque de Alba" (Institute for Studies and Investigations "Gran Duque de Alba") and Gold Medal of Tavira, among other awards and recognitions.