Azores decree three days of mourning for Dionysius Sousa's death

O president of the Government of the Azores, José Manuel Bolieiro, today decreed three days of regional mourning, to be fulfilled between today and Sunday, for the death of the former president of the Azorean parliament Dionysius Sousa.

The order of José Manuel Bolieiro, published in the Official Journal, states that in these three days “the flag of the Autonomous Region of the Azores must be placed at half a rod in all regional public services and in the companies of the public sector and regional business”.

The president of the Azorean Government states that Dionysio Mendes de Sousa, “over the course of his political life, performed the highest functions in the governing bodies of the Autonomous Region of the Azores with a high sense of mission, dignity and commitment, being an indispensable figure in the history of the Azores”.

Dionysio Mendes de Sousa, native to the parish of Vila de São Sebastião, in the municipality of Angra do Heroísmo, on Terceira Island, died on Thursday, at the age of 86.

As a member of the Socialist Party, he was elected a Member of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, by the constituency of Terceira Island in 1980, at the beginning of the Second Legislative Assembly, performing functions during seven consecutive legislatures.

During the term of office of deputy, he joined several parliamentary committees and, at the beginning of the VI Legislature, on November 7, 1996, he was unanimously elected president of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, serving until November 27, 1998, reads in the publication.

It is also stated in the order that, in the course of the VII Legislature, it was part of the Economics Commission and the Eventual Commission for the Review of the Regional Electoral System.

Dionysius Sousa also served as Secretary of the Committee on Social Affairs, Chairman of the Parliamentary Group of the Socialist Party, during the III and IV Legislatures, of the Eventual Committee for the Analysis of Pending Issues between the Government of the Republic and the Regional Government and the Committee on Economic Affairs.

He was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Infante D. Henrique on 3 September 2001 and the Autonomic Insignia of Valor in 2006.

Born in the parish of São Sebastião on Terceira Island, Dionysio Sousa graduated in philosophy and was a secondary school teacher.

Dionysius Sousa was also president of the PS/Açores and integrated several party bodies at regional and national level, having actively participated in the local life of Angra do Heroísmo.

It was also highlighted by the publication of articles in newspapers and works dedicated to the history and evolution of autonomy.

In 2014, he published “Axis sobre a Autonomia” and, in 2017, “Autonomia – 40 Years: Omens and Perspectives”, which he wrote with the former presidents of the Legislative Assembly Álvaro Monjardino and José Guilherme Reis Leite.