Biography

He completed his degree in History at NOVA FCSH in 2001. In 2006, he obtained a master’s degree (NOVA FCSH) with the dissertation “A Casa Palmela e o desafio Liberal: estratégias de Afirmação” [A Casa Palmela and the Liberal Challenge: Strategies of Affirmation], published by Livros Horizonte in 2008. In 2014, he obtained the degree of Doctor (NOVA FCSH) with the thesis funded by the FCT entitled “Nos bastidores da Corte”: O Rei e a Casa Real na crise da Monarquia – 1889-1908” [In the backstage of the Court”: The King and the Royal House in the Monarchy Crisis – 1889-1908], a work that won the 23rd edition of the Victor Sá de Contemporary History Award of the University of Minho.

He is a researcher at the Institute of Contemporary History (NOVA) and at the Center for Classical Studies (FLUL). He participated, as a fellow, in several research projects by NOVA, University of Évora, and ISCTE-IUL, of which the “Portuguese Women Writers (16th-19th centuries)“, funded by FCT, stands out.

He participated in several meetings of COST Action IS0901 “Women Writers in History – Toward a New Understanding of European Literary Culture” and of COST Action IS1310 “Reassembling the Republic of Letters, 1500-1800. A digital framework for multi-lateral collaboration on Europe’s intellectual history“. He was a member of the Luso-German integrated action “Redes culturais femininas entre Portugal e a Alemanha” [Women’s cultural networks between Portugal and Germany], funded by the FCT and participant in the project “Site das Escritoras”, funded by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

His research areas have been the Portuguese elites during the Constitutional Monarchy, having been more recently interested in the study of female textual production throughout the 19th century. He regularly presents the results of his research in conferences, both in Portugal and abroad, having published several papers.

Research fields

• Contemporary history
• 19th Century
• History of elites
• Egodocuments

Selected publications

• Urbano, Pedro. “Corte e Casa Real no final da Monarquia Constitucional Portuguesa,” Boletim Cultural “A Cidade de Évora” (2016).
• Urbano, Pedro, “The everyday life on the Royal Household,” in Geschicleich, edited by Maria de Lurdes Rosa. Lisbon: Instituto de Estudos Medievais, Centro de História de Além-Mar, Caminhos Romanos, 2012. [link]
• Urbano, Pedro. A Casa Palmela. Lisbon: Livros Horizonte, 2008. [link]
• Urbano, Pedro. “Dotar, partilhar e legar: o património da Casa Palmela,” Ler História 52 (2007): 187-210. [PDF]

Main projects

• Researcher in the online editorial project “ESCRITORAS – Women Writers in Portuguese before 1900” — Hosted by the School of Arts and Humanities of the University of Lisbon and funded by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (Proc. 134702). 2014 [link]
• Researcher in the integrated action Portugal-Germany “Female cultural networks between Portugal and Germany” — Hosted by the School of Arts and Humanities of the University of Lisbon and funded bay the Foundation for Science and Technology  (439/20/1/2014/S). 2014
• Member of COST Action IS1310 “Reassembling the Republic of Letters, 1500-1800. A digital framework for multi-lateral collaboration on Europe’s intellectual history”, on the mission “Iberian Letters: Textual Encoding Initiative” — Coordinated by Howard Hotson (University of Oxford) and funded by the European Commission – Horizon 2020. 2014 [link]
• Collaborator in COST Action IS0901 “Women Writers in History – Toward a New Understanding of European Literary Culture” — Coordinated by Suzan Van Dijk (Huygens Instituut voor Nederlandse Geschiedenis) and funded by the European Commission – Horizon 2020. 2012 [link]