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Sousa Mendes Museum Virtual Tour
September 15
| free but registration required.
11 AM LOS ANGELES • 2 PM NEW YORK
The Aristides de Sousa Mendes Museum is open! Please join us for this behind-the-scenes look at the exciting new museum in Portugal devoted to the Holocaust rescuer Aristides de Sousa Mendes. This program comes with the rare opportunity to view the film Disobedience: The Sousa Mendes Story free of charge!
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THE SCHEDULE
⇒ September 13-16, watch the film Disobedience: The Sousa Mendes Story on your home device. A link will be provided to all who register.
⇒ Sunday, September 15 at 2:00 p.m. US Eastern Time, tune into the program with our distinguished panel of speakers. A link will be provided to all who register.
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MEET THE SPEAKERS
Mariana Abrantes, who will moderate, is a Board member and the Portugal representative of the Sousa Mendes Foundation. She has been the main liaison between the Sousa Mendes Foundation and the Aristides de Sousa Mendes Museum. A dual US-Portuguese citizen, she studied Economics at UC-Berkeley and earned an MA from Princeton University. After training and working in Chase Manhattan Bank in New York, she returned to Portugal, where she worked at the European Investment Bank. She also served in the Portuguese government’s Ministries of Transport and Health and on the Boards of international investment funds and the Fulbright Commission Portugal.
Jose Maria Lobo de Carvalho, right, is a Portuguese architect based in Lisbon. He was the Project Coordinator in the creation of the Aristides de Sousa Mendes Museum. He has a PhD in Architecture from the Instituto Superior Técnico (Lisbon), a Master of Arts in Conservation Studies from the University of York (UK) and a degree in Architecture from the Universidade Lusíada (Lisbon), having done part of his architectural studies at the Polytechnic of Milan in Italy. He has been a professor at the university for more than 20 years and currently teaches at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Lisbon. In 2015 he founded the heritage consultancy firm Conservation Practice.
British artist Allan Drummond, left, designed and installed the Curious George room in the Aristides de Sousa Mendes Museum, based on his acclaimed book, The Journey That Saved Curious George, with text authored by Louise Borden. He studied illustration at the Royal College of Art, and graphic design at the London College of Printing. His many awards and accolades for illustration include a D&AD yellow pencil for his Royal Mail millennium postage stamp titled ‘the right to learn’ and awards from the National Science Teachers Association and the National Council for Social Studies. His latest books feature a pioneering mix of journalism and reportage drawing to create what he calls his ‘non-fiction reportage picture books’.
Jason Abranches, right, is a great-grandson of Aristides de Sousa Mendes After five years of working in Emergency Medicine, Jason began pursuing other passions in the marine field and is now sailing for charter companies all over the world in places like Hawai’i, the Caribbean, Florida, and most recently Portugal. Jason watched from a young age as his grandfather, alongside others, fought fiercely against all odds to restore the legacy and former estate of Aristides de Sousa Mendes before time ran out. Now as an adult, he is here to share his perspective on what the historic grand opening of the Aristides de Sousa Mendes Museum means to him as well as the large overjoyed family who have seen decades of consequences for Aristides’ heroic actions in 1940 finally become reconciled.
Luis Medeiros, left, was born in Carregal do Sal, Portugal, and moved to Canada as a teenager, joining his father and brother there. He later relocated to Mexico, in search of new challenges and a deeper understanding of the rich cultures the world has to offer. His curiosity and his passion for people led him to a career in journalism of more than 25 years, covering politics, sports, current affairs and arts in both entertainment and news formats for television. After returning to Portugal ten years ago, he joined TVI, one of Portugal’s main television stations, producing a variety of shows. In 2023, he returned to his hometown, and a happy coincidence led him to become part of the Aristides de Sousa Mendes Museum team. A dream job for a storyteller at heart!Registration for this program is closed.