User:Gilberto Ferraz

RESUME

Born in Tondela (Viseu), Portugal, on 9th February 1934, Gilberto Ferraz became interested in current and world affairs since his early boyhood and school days. After the classes, together with school friends and others current affairs were discussed as if it were a class on journalism. As a young boy became fascinated -  and concerned -  with the trials of the Nazi officers during the Nuremberg  trials which he accompanied avidly. His passion for journalism became real when he moved to Lisbon and was named deputy editor of a then popular religious fortnightly, Espada do Senhor  (Lord's Sword) in which he served over four years.

An Anglophile, came to England in 1965 and started working for the BBC, the then External Services, at Bush House, both in journalism and in charge of The Portuguese Language Services (Brazilian and Portuguese for Portugal and Africa) Audience Research, where he was for 30 years until his retirement. Amongst his later well known colleagues both in the Portuguese and Brazilian sections, as far as the former, names like Joaquim Letria, José Rodrigues dos Santos, just to name a few, and in the latter, the most missed was Vlado Herzog who went back to his native country and was arrested, tortured and killed by the then Brazilian Junta led by the General João Baptista de Oliveira Figueiredo on the false accusation of being a Communist Party member. His death provoked a worldwide outcry and in Brazil gave way to a new democratic country under the democratically elected President Tancredo Neves in 1985. Apart from his normal occupation, Gilberto Ferraz was elected, first vice-chairman for six years and then chairman for four years of the Association of Broadcasting Staff (ABS), - the official Trade Union organization, then called BECTU. During that time, however, and with the BBC's permission, Gilberto Ferraz became the first London based correspondent of the then largest daily, Jornal de Notícias, after 25 April Portuguese Revolution for 27 years. Later, and over 10 years he was also correspondent of the influential TSF Radio Noticias station, which became part of the Group. He also found time to co-operate, since 1989, with dispatches and to camera reports for the Portuguese State Television, RTP which still does whenever requested. Over this time, he interviewed leading British political figures, including  prime-ministers such as Sir John Major, Lord Callaghan, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown as well as hundreds of well known movie stars and film makers as well as attended, on the invitation of various British governments, military and naval exercises, mostly in Germany with the BAOR and NATO.

The major highlights of his reporting and feature writing include East-Timorese/Indonesian affairs which were highly received and praised by Portuguese ministers, and also Princess Diana's death and funeral.

Meanwhile he has contributed with articles, usually on Portuguese affairs, for the specialized publications such as annuals (The Annual Register) and journals. And is always at hand to comment, again on Portuguese affairs or other Portuguese speaking countries, both for radio (BBC and others, including overseas stations), television, BBC, ITV and Sky as well as for British and overseas newspapers. The most recent one being the McCann's Case. As a long resident foreign journalist in the UK he has long been regarded as a doyen member of the foreign press corps. He his also the author of Por Terras de Sua Majestade, a book written in Portuguese where he writes about his experiences, and observations on the British life, be it social, economical as well as political.

He was often requested by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office to interpret and accompany important foreign governmental delegations being invited to Britain. In that capacity he assisted British, Angolan, Mozambican, Brazilian and other Portuguese speaking ministers and high government officials or leading figures. In the case of the former it  lead to establishing diplomatic relations as it was the case with both Angola and Mozambique.

In 1995 he was awarded by the then Portuguese Government the Comenda da Ordem do Mérito (Merit Order) for “high services rendered to Journalism”.

Amongst his hobbies, reading of history, biographies, social and current affairs books, jogging, loves nature and gardening. His main concerns embrace environment, climate change, hunger, human wrights, and population displacement due to violence and war.