Joaquim Montes

(Almada, 11-09-1912 – Tarrafal, Santiago Island, Cape Verde, 14-02-1943)

Joaquim Montes was born in Almada and worked as a cork worker in Cova da Piedade. His involvement in the uprising of 18 January 1934 in Marinha Grande led to his arrest on 30 January 1934. He was accused of having, in the context of that insurrection, distributed bombs intended to set off in Lisbon and other points of the country, and of having been one of the instigators of the work stoppage in Almada on January 18. He was tried by the Special Military Court on March 8 of that year. Sentenced to fourteen years of banishment in the colonies, with imprisonment, and a fine of 20.000$00, on 8 September 1934, he was sent to the Fortress of Angra do Heroísmo, in the Azores, where he remained imprisoned for about two years, until, on 23 October 1936, he was transferred to the Concentration Camp of Tarrafal, in Cape Verde. He remained in this camp, in the Santiago Island, for six years and a few months, until he died in 1943, at the age of 30.