Biography

Abel Rodrigues is a historian and archivist. He is PhD candidate at NOVA FCSH and the École nationale des chartes-Paris Sciences et Lettres (2020-2024). He has a degree in History, a postgraduate and master’s degree in Modern and Contemporary Portuguese History and a postgraduate degree in Information Science (Archiving).

He was Research Assistant and Scientific Consultant for the VINCULUM project (ERC Grant Agreement ID 819734) (2019-2021), Information Manager at the Rectory of the University of Porto and the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto (2017-2018); Coordinator of the Marques da Silva Foundation — University of Porto (2015-2017); Coordinator of the Archive of the Casa de Mateus Foundation (2009-2015); and Archivist at the Baga District Archive/University of Minho (2000-2008).

His research has centred on personal and family archives, institutional archives and modern and contemporary history. He has published several books, book chapters and articles in scientific journals; he was the coordinator of the Casa de Mateus – Estudos & Manuscritos editorial collection; he was the technical and scientific coordinator of two research projects co-funded by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. He has co-supervised internships and master’s theses, and has also been the main examiner in several master’s exams. He has given lectures and seminars in Portugal and abroad. He is a reviewer for scientific publications in Portugal and Brazil.

Research fields

• Historical archives
• Family archives
• Institutional archives
• Institutional history

Selected publications

• Rodrigues, Abel. Conde de Margaride. Correspondência política (1870-1918). Lisbon: Alêtheia Editores, 2015. [link]
• Rodrigues, Abel, António Leal Duarte, Jaime Carvalho e Silva, João Filipe Queiró, Maria Elfrida Ralha, Maria Fernanda Estrada & Maria Luísa Malato (Orgs.). Anecdotas de J. A. d. C. Reminiscências de D. José Maria de Sousa, Morgado de Mateus sobre o seu Mestre e Amigo José Anastácio da Cunha. Vila Nova de Famalicão: Húmus, 2013.
• Rodrigues, Abel & Armando Barreiros Malheiro da Silva, “A criação das Gavetas na Casa de Mateus: um modelo iluminista de gestão da informação,” in Arquivos de família, séculos XIII-XX: que presente, que futuro, organised by Maria de Lurdes Rosa, 597-650. Lisbon: IEM / CHAM / Caminhos Romanos, 2012. [link] 🔓
• Rodrigues, Abel Leandro Freitas. “Entre o Público e o Privado: a génese do arquivo do conde da Barca (1754-1817).” Master’s in History of Institutions and Modern and Contemporary Cultures dissertation presented to the University of Minho, 2007. [PDF]

Main projects

• “Para o serviço de Deus e do Rei: a gestão da informação das Capelas da Coroa (Portugal, sécs. XV-XVII)” [For the service of God and the King: information management in the Crown Chapels (Portugal, 15th-17th centuries)] — PhD thesis to be presented to the NOVA School of Social Sciences and Humanities and the École nationale des chartes-Paris, Sciences et Lettres, supervised by Maria de Lurdes Rosa (IHC — NOVA FCSH) and Olivier Poncet (École nationale des chartes-Paris). Individual PhD project funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology (UI/BD/150930/2021). 2020-
• Fellow of the project “VINCULUM. Entailing Perpetuity: Family, Power, Identity. The Social Agency of a Corporate Body (Southern Europe, 14th-17th Centuries)” — Coordinated by Maria de Lurdes Rosa (IHC — NOVA FCSH) and funded by the European Research Council (Grant agreement ID: 819734). [link]