Manuel Loff was one of the personalities honoured by Porto City Council with the award of a Medal of Merit, in recognition of his academic merit and services to the city of Porto.

The ceremony took place on 9 July at Casa do Roseiral (Crystal Palace Gardens), marking the arrival of King Pedro IV in Porto in 1832 and his contribution to liberating the city from the siege of the absolutists. At the event, the Mayor, Rui Moreira, emphasised that ‘democracy cannot survive without the teachings of history, without the knowledge of science, without the mediation of culture, without the scrutiny of free journalism’.

The IHC historian was born in Porto in 1965 and is an Associate Professor in the Department of History and Political and International Studies at the Faculty of Letters of the University of Porto. He has a PhD from the European University Institute and has devoted his research to the study of the 20th century, especially Iberian dictatorships, fascism, and the processes of social construction of the memory of oppression. He was a Member of the Portuguese Parliament between March and September 2023.

Photo: © Andreia Merca / Porto City Council