Adelino Lyon de Castro/MNAC
Photographer
Adelino Lyon de Castro was a publisher and one of the most important and interesting amateur photographers of the 1950s in Portugal, despite his brief career and life. It was together with his brother, Francisco Lyon de Castro, that he founded Publicações Europa-América in 1945, in what was to become one of the leading publishing houses in the post-war Portuguese publishing scene.
Its editorial line was based on defending the publication of many authors banned by Censorship, as well as investing in the import of foreign authors, which led to frequent incidents with Censorship and PIDE. In 1952, they founded the Ler, Jornal de Letras, Arte e Ciências periodical project, of which Adelino Lyon de Castro would become editor, with the regular participation of names such as Piteira Santos, José Cardoso Pires, Maria Lamas, Mário Dionísio, António Quadros, José Régio and Orlando Ribeiro.
Having used the premature death of its editor, Adelino Lyon de Castro, in 1953 as a pretext, the Censor’s Office banned publication of the newspaper later that year. The markedly political and socially concerned nature of his editorial activity would also influence his career as an amateur photographer.
He belonged to one of the most important photographic associations of the 1950s, the Foto Clube 6×6, founded in 1950 and based in Lisbon. His intense and close relationship with the literary and artistic circles resisting the dictatorship brought him closer to the General Exhibitions of Plastic Arts (EGAP), imbued with the neo-realist aesthetic, leading him to participate in the Photography section of the 5th EGAP.
He took part in numerous national and international photographic exhibitions. His entire photographic collection was donated to MNAC – Museu do Chiado in 2009.
Source: Emília Tavares / MNAC