With the exhibition "SHANGHAI PORTUGUESE REFUGEES IN MACAO (1937-1964)", the Historical Archives of Macao shares with the public an important collection of historical documentation that is essential for the understanding and analysis of the social phenomenon of the Shanghai Portuguese refugees' migration in the context of the Macanese Diaspora across the globe.

The exhibition is presented in three sections featuring: (1) The historical background of the Macanese Diaspora, with focus on the "Shanghai Portuguese Community"; (2) The departure of Macanese from Shanghai for Macao due to, amongst other reasons, the Japanese invasion of China, World War II and the Chinese civil war. This section presents documents to illustrate the flight of Portuguese refugees, their arrival in Macao, the asylum procedures that they went through and their later emigration to other places; (3) Records and materials, including personal items of one of the Shanghai Portuguese refugees and Macanese Clementina Fernandes.

The extensive documentation on Shanghai Portuguese refugees is a significant legacy that the Historical Archives of Macao leaves to the younger generation in a vision to inspire them that the future is built on a reflection of the past. The history of Shanghai Portuguese refugees is also the history of a caring city.

THE MACANESE DIASPORA


 

The first period of Macanese diaspora took place between the mid-nineteenth and mid-twentieth century. Macao was the main source city of Macanese emigrants whose major destinations were Hong Kong and Shanghai.

The movement of Shanghai Portuguese Refugees to Macao from 1949 represented the beginning of new migratory flows that led Macanese emigrants to the five continents.
 

MIGRATION ROUTES OF SHANGHAI MACANESE FAMILIES

Of the Macanese families that moved to Shanghai, only a few did not have children. At the core of the Macanese community which first settled in Shanghai were the families of José Francisco Aquino, João Carlos Danenberg and Fernando Florêncio Carion, whose origins could be traced back to Portugal, Netherlands or Philippines. There were also other Macanese families in the community which were originated in other countries.

SHANGHAI PORTUGUESE COMMUNITY

Between 1880 and 1952 more than 5000 Portuguese nationals were registered at the Portuguese Consulate in Shanghai (List on the left). After the end of World War II, more and more Macanese in Shanghai began to leave the city. The outflow of Macanese, which generally bound for Macao, accelerated from 1949 and eventually resulted in the disappearance of the Macanese community in Shanghai in a few years.

The Macanese in Shanghai were mainly engaged in commercial and financial activities (List on the right).

SHANGHAI PORTUGUESE COMMUNITY: INTEGRATION INTO THE URBAN FABRIC

The addresses stated by the Portuguese migrants when they registered at the Portuguese Consulate in Shanghai enable the identification of streets where they lived, which were dispersed throughout the city (Figure on the left).

In the initial phase (1880-1895) , the Macanese community was present in two important streets that originated at the Bund: Nanjing Road and Beijing Road. As a hub of intense economic activity, these streets formed the most relevant business district in Shanghai (Firgure on the right).

The majority of Macanese migrants in Shanghai settled in Honkou, an area north to Suzhou River, particularly North Szechuen Road ( now North Sichuan Road), Quinsan Road (now Kunshan Road) and Chapoo Road (now Zhapu Road) (Figure on the left).

A feature of the Shanghai society was the forming of associations. The Macanese community in Shanghai created associations for a number of reasons - to maintain its cultural identity, to strengthen ties within the community and to preserve the cultural references of its territory of o rigin, Macao ( Figure on the right).

BACK TO THE JOURNEY OF MIGRATION - MACANESE DIASPORA IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY


 

The migration of Shanghai Portuguese refugees made an important contribution to the dispersal of Macanese around the world during the second half of the twentieth century: Only 4.2% of the Macanese migrants converged in Asia, followed by Africa, with merely 0.4%. The countries with the highest number of Macanese migrants were located in the American continent (58.6%); followed by Europe with a big margin (22.4%) and then Oceania (14.4%).

FIRST RECORDS OF SHANGHAI REFUGEES


 

In May 1949, the migratory movement of Shanghai Portuguese refugees began and lasted for many months and years afterwards. Between May and October 1949, 121 Macanese were registered. In May 1950, registration was recommenced and more than 86 Macanese were registered. In 1951, the number of registration jumped to 180, amounting to 46.6% of total registrations in three years.


 

Most of the Portuguese refugees were children of immigrants born in Shanghai or Hong Kong. It was very likely that most of them had never been to Macao. Indeed, only just over 10% of them were born in this territory.

PLACES OF REFUGEE ACCOMODATION


 

Between 1949 and 1951, more than 94% of refugees were accommodated in three places: Centre of Refugees for both male and female refugees; Centre of Avenida Almirante Lacerda almost exclusively for female refugees; and the Home of the Poor where only male refugees were accommodated.

Subsequently, most refugees, who were offered basic conditions for their survival in the territory, including accommodation, food, hygiene and healthcare, were housed in three centres:

  • Centre No. 1 – Home of the Poor (Canidrome)
  • Centre No. 2 – Portuguese-Chinese (Calçada do Gamboa)
  • Centre No. 3 – Rua Nova do Comércio

MARIA TERESA VÉSTIA: REMINISCES


 

Maria Teresa Véstia, daughter of Clementina Maria Assunta Fernandes, is a keeper of her mother’s memories. The small number of documents (passports, letters, photographs, certificates...) preserved with affection are a recollection of a life divided among Shanghai, Macao, Mozambique and Lisbon.

CLEMENTINA FERNANDES: THE ORIGINS

Clementina Maria Assunta Fernandes was born in Baikal Road (now Huimin Road) in Shanghai in 1929. The origins of the Macanese family could be dated back to late eighteenth century when her grandfather João Gregório Carion left his native land Manila for the city of Macao where he later died in 1839.

Clementino Fernandes, father of Clementina Fernandes, emigrated to Shanghai for work in the commercial sector. He registered at the Portuguese Consulate in 1918. He had two marriages, the first with Francisca Sales Carion, mother of Clementina Fernandes, in 1920, and the second with Elvira Maria Catarina Carion in 1940.

CLEMENTINA FERNANDES: IN SHANGHAI 1929-1949

CLEMENTINA FERNANDES: FROM SHANGHAI TO MACAO 1950

Clementina Fernandes spent the first twenty years of her life in Shanghai. She was educated both about the preservation of her Macanese identity and the need to adapt to the multicultural society of foreign concessions. It was an education that emphasized on the values of tolerance and respect for the principles that shape the character of each individual.

Clementina had met many friends throughout her life, some since her early youth. Her friendships are reflected in the small autograph books that she left, in which there are signatures of Russian, American and Chinese youngsters.

The young Clementina Fernandes, who was of short stature at slightly more than one and a half metre and with swarthy skin, brown eyes and black hair as described in the passport, began to prepare for her departure from Shanghai in May 1949

The trip to Macao and to Portugal some years later represented a double migration in space and time. It was both a relocation to other territories for “refuge” and a trip to territories where the historical-cultural origins of Macanese community could be traced.

CLEMENTINA FERNANDES: IN MACAO 1950 - 1956

Clementina bought an autograph book, which then accompanied her throughout the six years that she spent in Macao. The first page of the book writes the address of her first residence in Macao – No. 18, Calçada da Barra. However, there is also evidence that she might have stayed in a refugee centre for some time.

Little is known of the life of Clementina Fernandes in Macao. Maria Teresa Véstia reminisced that her mother had lived in one of the refugee centres for about a month, where she shared the same sorrows, joys, misfortunes and solidarity with her fellow compatriots during those difficult days.

Those were the times of transition which enabled this young lady to make friends and live in available spaces in Macao, a city that remained open to the world, despite all the difficulties in the years of war and refuge.

In 1956, Clementina Fernandes was married to José António Pereira, a Portuguese soldier born in Vila Pouca de Aguiar in Portugal on 8 November 1928. Their first two children, Guilhermina and José António, were born in Macao.

MACAO, LISBON, VILA CABRAL, NAMPULA, SINTRA 1956 - 1996

 

Between May and June 1956, Clementina boarded the vessel “Índia” bound for Lisbon. The vessel passed by Hong Kong, Singapore and other places before it finally arrived at Alcântara of Lisbon on 20 June 1956.

MACAO, LISBON, VILA CABRAL, NAMPULA, SINTRA 1956 - 1996

 

The stay in Lisbon was brief, only an address is known: No. er son, Henrique António, who was born on 25 August 1957.

In October, Clementina Fernandes boarded the vessel “Império” bound for Mozambique with her children Guilhermina and Henrique to accompany her husband who was in another service commission.

MACAO, LISBON, VILA CABRAL, NAMPULA, SINTRA 1956 - 1996

In 1971, Clementina and her husband returned to Lisbon for good with their three children, ending the long journey of the family's migration from two origins: Shanghai of China and Vila Pouca de Augiar of Portugal.

Two years after her husband passed away in 1994, Clementina Fernandes died of a car accident in Sintra, Portugal on 18 October.