A metalworker and anarcho-syndicalist, he is one of the anarchists to whom the bomb attack on Salazar on Avenida Barbosa du Bocage, in 1937, is attributed. He fled to England, was handed over to the Portuguese police and was not released from prison until 1953.
Oppositionmetalworkeranarcho-syndicalistgeneral secretary of the National Metalworkers’ Unionimplicated in the attack on Salazar (1937)political prisoner
He was born in Lisbon, in the parish of Santa Engrácia, in 1906. As a child he attended Workshop School No. 1, a modern school following the principles of the educationalist Francisco Ferrer. He was active in the Syndicalist Youth and was general secretary of the National Metalworkers’ Union, affiliated to the General Confederation of Labour (CGT). After the coup of 28 May 1926 he continued his union activity underground.1 He was arrested several times — once in Elvas Fort — and deported to the Azores in 1932.4 In 1936 he represented the Portuguese CGT at the congress of the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo, in Spain.1
On the morning of 4 July 1937, as Salazar was going to Mass at the private chapel of his friend Josué Trocado, on Avenida Barbosa du Bocage, a bomb hidden in a sewer went off; it exploded in the wrong direction, and the dictator was unhurt.12 The attack is usually attributed to anarchists such as Emídio Santana, who are thought to have acted in liaison with other elements of the Popular Front, notably the PCP.2 Wikipedia names him as one of the perpetrators; Memória Comum, as the leading name in a mixed group, with Lisbon taxi drivers, anarchist leaders and some PCP activists acting in a personal capacity.14
Wanted by the political police, he fled to the United Kingdom, but the English police arrested him in Southampton and sent him to Portugal.14 On 19 October 1937 he was admitted to Aljube Prison, “for inquiries”, and then passed through the penitentiaries of Lisbon and Coimbra.4 On 15 January 1939, the Special Military Court sentenced him to eight years in prison, followed by twelve of banishment.41 He was not released until 23 May 1953. In all, he was arrested four times.14
In 1965 he chaired the board of the Lisbon Tenants’ Association, and in the 1969 elections he spoke on trade union issues at opposition rallies. After 25 April he edited the newspaper A Batalha and published História de um atentado: o atentado a Salazar (The Story of an Attack: the Attack on Salazar, 1976). He died in Lisbon in 1988.1
Emídio Santana’s role in the attack: Wikipedia names him as one of the perpetrators; the Aljube Museum speaks of an attack “usually attributed” to anarchists like him, in liaison with other elements of the Popular Front; Memória Comum speaks of a mixed group — Lisbon taxi drivers, anarchist leaders, “most notably Emídio Santana”, and some PCP activists acting individually.
Whether he actually served the sentence of banishment, and where: the 1939 sentence gave, as an alternative, 25 years of banishment in a “first-class possession”, and the sources say only that he passed through the penitentiaries of Lisbon and Coimbra and was released in 1953.
Much of the biography comes from Wikipedia, which draws on Emídio Santana’s own memoirs and on his papers in the Arquivo Histórico-Social; his time in prison is confirmed by Memória Comum.
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Sources4
1Emídio Santana. Wikipédia — consulted on 2 October 2026
2Atentado a Salazar. Museu do Aljube Resistência e Liberdade (EGEAC) — consulted on 2 October 2026
